The EagleCam

As I start to write this blog post, it’s under the protest of my two kids.  Because in order for me to write, I need the computer, which means they can’t use it anymore, which means they can’t watch the Minnesota DNR’s EagleCam anymore.

 

I’ve generally mocked those who spend their time watching live video of animals.  After all, how much fun can it be to watch a bald eagle sitting essentially motionless in a nest atop a tall tree?  A heck of a lot, as it turns out.  When I started watching the other day, the eagles’ nest was just your basic nest made of twigs and other brown material.  But the biggest snowstorm of the winter was working its way across Minnesota, and I watched the first flakes of snow begin turning the bird birds’ backs white.  By the next morning, it looked like the birds were just sitting in a depression in the snow.  And that’s still what it looks like today.

I can’t pinpoint what’s fun about watching the EagleCam.  And even though in the time my kids watched it there was hardly any action, they loved it, and called out every time the bird moved its head.  I suppose it’s just our innate nature to enjoy seeing things from a new point of view.  Or maybe it just brings out the voyeur in all of us.