Application Arts (Appart) has been lucky to be involved with a project that is a bit different than our normal course of business. We installed a webcam directly on a nest of a local pair of osprey. The story is that a pair of osprey originally nested at the site of the Barbee Mill Company many years ago. The sawmill was located in Renton, Washington on the shores of Lake Washington. Barbee Mill was the last operating sawmill on Lake Washington until 2005. The original pair of osprey chose to nest on a piece of sawmill equipment in the early 90’s. This beautiful site was located near the mouth of May Creek which offered great fishing for the osprey. When the mill closed in 2005 and the equipment was disassembled; the nest was removed and relocated to a new location nearby on the lake. You can see some historical photos here. With the help of many people, this nesting site continues to attract a pair of ospreys every year.
Appart provides the technical support, hosting, and programming for the site www.ospreynest.org. This website has been up on the web in some form since 1998. This is our fourth year offering live streaming video of the nest. In the past few years, we’ve been able to see the whole cycle from egg to fledging. This year we’ve added a selectable camera view, nest or perch, which the user can select.
I’d like to take some time to thank the people who help make this osprey site possible. First, Bruce Nagata, whose diligence and continued work on the web interface has made for a project that continues to improve every year. Second is William Parent, who has helped me from the beginning of this project. His pole climbing skills have been invaluable in allowing us to service and maintain the hardware at the site. Additionally, I’d like to thank James Kaiser who has provided a ton of technical advice and encouragement over the years about the osprey lifecycle and traits and for his help in relocation of this nest.
As most of you know, this was the first pair in the general South LakeWashington area, and I believe the other ospreys who have taken up residence nearby, (Park Avenue Pair, Bellevue Pair, 167 Pair) are all offspring of the original Barbee nest. There is no way to know for sure, but I sure like to think that it’s true! Check it out on the web. We should have chicks soon!
Robert Cugini