The eagles have landed

Nature hasn’t gotten the memo that the world has shut down.

The spring peepers, also known as chorus frogs, are getting louder every night in New England.

And these handsome guys are strutting around my donkeys’ pasture, vying for the attention of the ladies.

Most importantly for everyone stuck at home, the live bird cams are back.

From peregrine falcons in Manchester, New Hampshire, to ospreys on the Chesapeake Bay, these are the ethically dubious, but highly addictive video feeds of nesting birds.

The bird cams are most interesting when the eggs hatch; or, if the eggs hatch, I should say. A few years ago, a camera recorded a crow destroying several osprey eggs and the distraught mother eating what was left.

Also, I should warn you, that’s not the most distressing thing people have witnessed on live feeds. A few days ago, a bald eagle attacked the nest of another pair of eagles in Colorado; wildlife officials aren’t sure where the mother is now, or if the eggs are still viable, although the father is still tending to them.

Also, unfortunately, raptors gotta eat.

Live cams in the wild raise all sorts of questions about whether it’s ethical for humans to intrude in the lives of these creatures, even if we’re doing nothing but watching. There’s also the issue of whether we should intervene if we have the opportunity to save a life.

I like crows, but wanted to bat that one away from the osprey nest.

Two years ago, after an owl made off with an osprey chick on a live video feed in Maine, viewer outcry prompted the Seabird Restoration Program to install bright lights to try to deter the owl.

Thankfully, most of the video is simply pleasurable, even when the birds are doing nothing but looking around.

Here are a few to try:

Peregrine falcons in New Hampshire.

Peregrine at the University of Pittsburgh.

Bald eagles in Hanover, Pennsylvia.

Great horned owls in Montana.

Barred owl in Zionsville, Indiana.

Bald eagle at Avon Lake, Ohio. (This article says 2 out of 3 eggs just hatched, but I’m not seeing anything in the nest right now except something that looks suspiciously like lunch.)

I’ll add more links as I come across them, and if you know of any others, please drop a link in the comments.

Anything to keep us off Twitter, eh?

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