March 23, 2009
Vol. 39, No. 103

For more information, contact Richard Julian or Ashlie Kozlowski, Seaside Nature Center, 302-645-6852, or Beth Shockley, Public Affairs, 302-739-9902.

“Osprey Cam” Back Live on DNREC Website
Watch for Arrival of this Year’s Ospreys at Cape Henlopen’s Seaside Nature Center

DNREC’s “Osprey Cam” is back live online this season on the DNREC website at www.dnrec.delaware.gov. The Osprey Cam allows anyone with a computer to see inside a wild osprey nest.  The real-time streaming video on the website links from the Osprey Cam located at the Seaside Nature Center at Cape Henlopen State Park.

Last year, viewers were able to watch from spring to late summer as a nesting pair of adults raised three chicks before the family left their Delaware nest to migrate thousands of miles to winter in South America. Currently, the nest is empty.

The Osprey Cam was installed in fall 2006, and was up and running in March 2007 and unveiled at a ceremony in April 2007. A wireless radio signal relays images from the nest site, located atop a tower on the nearby grounds of SPI Pharma, Inc., to the Osprey Cam at the nature center.

“Putting the Osprey Cam online again this year is very exciting because even more people can now learn about ospreys,” said Richard Julian, Seaside Nature Center Manager. “It’s fun to watch the chicks grow and to see the adults taking care of them. In this way, the Osprey Cam encourages appreciation for our natural resources. We’re using technology to get people interested in nature.”

The Osprey Cam project, spearheaded by the Friends of Cape Henlopen State Park, is a partnership of the Friends of Cape Henlopen, DNREC’s Division of Parks and Recreation and the Seaside Nature Center with support from SPI Pharma and others.

Absolute Securities Group installed the Osprey Cam and assisted in troubleshooting its early operation. The state Department of Information and Technology is making possible the center’s link to the DNREC website.  

The “Osprey Cam” can be viewed at  www.dnrec.delaware.gov .