The latest wildlife reality video is now streaming online.
A camera has been positioned some nine metres in the air to capture the daily, and nightly, activities of great horned owls as they nest at Ellis Bird Farm near Lacombe.
The bird of prey has nested in the yard for several years and Myrna Pearman, biologist and site manager at the farm, is optimistic that it will return again this year.
An infrared camera has been installed near a nest and will offer viewers an ongoing glimpse into the life of this nocturnal bird, especially the busy evening time.
“That’s when most of the activity is, in terms of feeding the young,” Pearman said.
Great horned owls sit on their eggs for a 30-day incubation period and typically have two to three young at a time, she added.
The young owls tend to fledge from the nest several weeks after hatching.
The farm is moving to live video streaming after putting cameras into different bird houses for the past five years.
This footage, which was only ever showcased on closed-circuit televisions on site, has always been popular with patrons, Pearman said.
So she anticipates that the owl footage will be just as sought after as the video that the Red Deer River Naturalists captured of peregrine falcons last spring.
“Most people do feel a sense of connection with nature, but they don’t have any means of going out and directly observing nature in the wild because so many of us live in urban areas,” she said.
“This is just a window into the natural world.”
If the owls do not show up to nest within the next two weeks, Pearman said the camera will be moved to capture the daily lives of beavers or other nesting birds.
To view the footage, go to www.ustream.tv and type “Ellis Bird Farm owl” into the search box at the top of the page.
Those who spot any activity are encouraged to send an email describing what they saw to info@ellisbirdfarm.ca.
ptrotter@www.reddeeradvocate.com