Saturday, May 5, 2012

Live Camera on a Great Blue Heron Nest

Live Heron Cam:
Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York



Another Camera: To see the nest from a different angle, Right-click here and select "Open in a New Window".

HINTS: Keep BOTH cameras displayed on your screen at the same time. A human will sometimes pan the second camera over the pond to see what the other heron is doing, such as fishing, nest repair or hanging out nearby.
Also, turn up the Sound Volume on your computer. There's a party going on! 

Status updates: The herons have returned! 
You will see courtship displays and nest-building activities. The female laid her first egg on March 28. Watch for the next egg, usually laid two to three days after the first one.
Morning of March 31: a second egg appeared.
By April 2: there were three eggs.
On April 3: the female laid her fourth egg.
On April 6: egg number five.
End of April: The eggs have hatched!

Herons usually lay 2-6 eggs and share incubation duties for 25-30 days. Incubation begins with the first egg, and the young hatch asynchronously (not at the same time) over 2-5 days. After hatching, it'll take 7-8 weeks before they fly from the nest for the first time.
Live streaming video is from cornellherons at livestream.com

Originally posted here on March 29, 2012 and updated several times.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Exquisite, beautiful, funny, amazing...Thank you!