For the past 19 years, osprey have nested on a special platform atop a utility pole not far from the Calgary Zoo. If you’re in town, you can watch the family as it grows along the Bow River, but you can also view these birds of prey anytime from anywhere via an osprey cam. The zoo and ENMAX have offered this bird’s eye view since 2008.
Mom and dad have returned to this nesting site and three eggs have been laid. They should hatch in mid-June. (Guess the precise date and you may even win a contest.) Otherwise, you can just enjoy the livestream around the clock until the birds leave, usually in September.
“Our osprey webcam has an incredibly high number of followers that have increased year over year,” Doris Kaufmann Woodcock, ENMAX spokesperson, said in a statement. “Five years ago there were about 15,000 unique visitors to the webpage and at the close of last year that number jumped to almost 28,000.”
Osprey have a penchant for building nests on the top of power poles, but this can be both dangerous to the birds and lead to power outages. That’s why ENMAX has has built 14 nesting platforms around the city close to popular nesting spots, but with an eye to keeping the birds away from power lines.
“Although osprey populations are still recovering from historic declines caused by the extensive use of DDT, a pesticide banned almost 45 years ago, they are considered sensitive in Alberta,” Lea Randall, Conservation Research Population Ecologist, Calgary Zoo, said in a statement.
Photo ENMAX
