For weeks people from all over the world have had a front-row seat to the absorbing鈥攁nd sometimes harrowing鈥攈appenings at a great blue heron nest in Ithaca, New York, thanks to t.
They鈥檝e watched as the birds courted, mated, tended to their eggs, and fought off predators: great horned owls attacked in the wee hours of morning, eliciting 鈥渞arely heard, spine-chilling defensive screams鈥 from the parents as they defended their nest, says John Fitzpatrick, director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. (Scroll down for a video of the attack.) For the past few days there鈥檚 been a different kind of activity: Four of the five eggs have hatched, with the last chick expected to bust out if its shell at any moment.
The cameras have attracted more than 500,000 viewers from 166 countries. 鈥淔rom the very first night, viewers witnessed little-known events, such as herons courting and mating by moonlight,鈥 says Fitzpatrick 鈥淓ven the professionals are gaining new insights from these live cams.鈥
Since 2009 herons have been nesting in the spot in Cornell Lab of Ornithology鈥檚 Sapsucker Woods, feeding their young a steady diet of fish and frogs.
If you just can鈥檛 get enough of wildlife cams, check out our . (We figured we should put to good use all of those hours we鈥檝e spent engrossed with watching bald eagles, penguins, hammerhead sharks, and more.) They鈥檙e fabulous鈥 to start watching!