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Lights, Cameras, Dunedin Osprey-cam

Mark Schantz/SUNCOAST NEWS

Dunedin plans to spotlight a osprey nest at its St. Andrews Links Golf Course to internet viewers through an Ospreycam, slated to be on-line this fall.

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By Mark  Schantz | The Suncoast News

Published: May 9, 2008

DUNEDIN - By fall, osprey aficionados around the world should be able to view Dunedin's very own Osprey-cam, direct from high atop a perch at St. Andrew's Links Golf Course.

Assistant City Manager Harry Gross said ospreys and other Web cams have become popular. Anyone with a computer can watch the little hatchlings in their nests all day via the Internet, he said.

Osprey-cam will be another way for the city to market itself around the world. Internet viewers, tuning into Dunedin Osprey-cam, will learn about Dunedin and the city-owned St. Andrew's Links.

Locally, visitors to the golf course and the nearby Fred Marquis Pinellas Trail love watching the ospreys in their nests. This webcam will enable viewers to view the hatchlings, up close, in their nests.

It will be a nice addition for the classes at the city's Nature Center and it can be used by area schools to teach about the environment, Gross said.

Plans are to affix a camera close to the osprey perch, which is high atop a pole at the golf course, Gross said. Because ospreys are a protected species every facet of setting up the camera has to be done to specific rules and regulations, he explained.

Several local environmental groups are getting involved in the project, he added.

A private donation of $3,000 will pay for the cameras and equipment, Gross explained.

The city will have a link to Osprey-cam on its Web site, www.dunedinospreycam.com>.

This osprey nest was chosen because the birds that nest in the area have been prolific breeders over the years, Gross said.

James Guerin, director of the city's internet technology division, said several issues still have to be resolved before the webcam can go live. A webcam uses up a lot of Internet space, called bandwidth. That is why it must be linked to the city's Web site from another server, he explained.

First, it has to be determined how electrical power and Internet access will be provided to the pole. Then the camera has to be specially mounted so it does not get sprayed, damaged or soiled by the birds.

Research has shown the camera and lens also has to be protected from insects attracted by the magnetic field the device generates, Guerin said. The insects might build a nest on the lens or camera, he said.

The camera will capture everything the ospreys do, some of which may not be pretty, Guerin warned. For example, ospreys return to the nest and pull apart anything they grab, even other living things, to feed their young. In some areas this caused complaints from parents.

Nest will only be used a few months out of the year and will be dormant when the birds are away, Guerin said.

Gross said stay tuned, Dunedin Osprey-cam should be ready for viewing this fall.

Mark Schantz can be reached at 727-815-1075 or mschantz@suncoastnews.com.

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