DECORAH, Iowa — A live video feed from northeast Iowa with a bird’s eye view of eagle eggs hatching has attracted more than 100,000 followers — so many that the site crashed briefly Saturday after the first eaglet emerged.
The camera sponsored by the Raptor Resource Project shows a nest 80 feet up in a tree overlooking a trout stream at the Decorah Fish Hatchery, where the two bald eagles are welcoming their brood.
Three eggs were laid in late February, and the first eaglet started to emerge from its shell Friday.
Bob Anderson, the project’s executive director, said the second hatched about 5:30 a.m. yesterday and the third is expected in about three days.
“The world loves it,’’ said Anderson, who controls the camera angle from a nearby shed.
Viewers can watch the adult eagles feed the hatchlings and trade shifts sitting on the nest. Anderson recently took on two volunteers to help work the camera so he could get some sleep and respond to hundreds of e-mails from eagle fans around the world.
He said he got more than 500 e-mails from Saturday night to yesterday morning.
The video feed reports more than 100,000 people are watching at any given time. Anderson said a spike in traffic overloaded the site Saturday, and it was down for about two hours.
“I have had bird cams for 20 years . . . I’m in shock, I’m in awe,’’ Anderson said of its popularity.
The camera is about the size of grapefruit and camouflaged with leaves. It’s equipped with an infrared light — which the eagles can’t detect — for nighttime viewing.
Anderson said teachers log on for class projects and about 23 volunteers staff the site’s chat room from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.
The eagles have raised eight chicks since they built the nest four years ago.
During last year’s nesting season, the site recorded 10 million hits and about 78,000 unique visitors who watched three eaglets hatch, Anderson said.
Anderson said the eagles on camera, like most native to Iowa, do not migrate and live in the nest year-round. The chicks should be with them until July.
