On World Environment Day a 4th LIVE Cam has been launched on Nonsuch Island as a partnership between the Nonsuch Expeditions, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources.
This new camera is located in Nonsuch Translocation Colony A, and unlike the existing nest Cams is above ground giving a view of the Island and coastline during the day and an infrared view of the Colony at night allowing scientists, students and followers from around the world to observe the Cahow chicks as they explore, exercise and imprint on their surroundings in the few nights before they fledge out to sea.
If activity in the LIVE video below has ended, you may scroll back up to 12 hours in the Timeline…
Charles Eldermire | Cornell Lab of Ornithology:
“Watching the Cahow nestling navigate the darkness and stretch its wings on the new cam shows a whole new side to Cedar, one that reinforces how close she is to heading out to sea! Plus, the daytime views of Nonsuch Island are spectacular and I can imagine lots of viewers tuning in just to bask in the beauty and to watch the longtails fly past on the wind.”
Jeremy Madeiros | Senior Terrestrial Conservation Officer, The Department of the Environment and Natural Resources:
“I project that Cedar, based on her weight and wing length from her most recent health check will fledge out to sea somewhere between the 4th and 8th of June, so the launch of this new Cam allowing us to witness this process is quite timely. When watching at night you will see her exercising and flapping her wings, however there are no test flights, so the first time she actually flies she will head out to sea, not to return, if all goes well, for 3 to 5 years...”
Jean-Pierre Rouja | Nonsuch Expeditions Team Leader:
“This new camera follows our original CahowCam that we first launched 8 years ago in Cahow burrow #831. Unfortunately the egg in this nest failed this year, however this gave the parents a much needed break as they had successfully raised a chick for the past 5 years, well above the average Cahow nesting success rate.
CahowCam 2 was launched this Spring in burrow #832, in which viewers have been following the Cahow chick, recently named “Cedar” and an increasingly persistent, annoying and never before documented Storm Petrel nest-mate.
We have also recently launched a “Longtail” TropicbirdCam in which the chick hatched a month earlier than expected and is doing very well.”
The LIVE feeds and archival recordings from the Cams have resulted in over 20 million minutes of video being watched over the past 3 seasons which will only increase over the next few years with all of these new viewing options…
The Cahows are nocturnal when approaching land and nesting, therefore the majority of activity occurs at night, usually starting around 1am, however viewers of the LIVE video feeds can scroll back as far back as 12 hours in the timeline allowing them to observe all of the prior nights nocturnal activities when checking in the morning.
J-P Rouja:
“We also have a number of Cornell volunteers and other followers across a multitude of timezones ensuring that the live feeds are always monitored in realtime and that post regular updates to our Twitter feeds. The crowd sourcing of citizen scientists to monitor 24/7 live feeds is relatively new but much welcomed phenomenon and has already helped our Team identify significant activities that we would otherwise have missed.”
Watch LIVE now:
http://www.nonsuchisland.com/live-cahow-cam
http://www.nonsuchisland.com/live-tropicbird-cam