Kestrel Cam Upgrade

Over the last few years we have joined with the Eagle Mountain Kestrel Project and have been providing bandwidth and electricity to the Eagle Mountain Kestrel Cam. The last two years have given us some pretty good footage and some insight in what happens inside the nesting boxes for Kestrels in Eagle Mountain. With the help of some sponsors and donations from members of the Kestrel project those images are getting an upgrade. The webcam for the last couple of years has been running through Wi-Fi and has been a challenge to keep up reliably. With some help from sponsors this year the project was able to upgrade to a wired 4K camera. To accomplish this we had to run 250 ft of conduit and network cable. In the process we also ran extra network cables with the hope that in the future we may be able to add a second camera that will show an outside view of the box as well. During the 2018 nesting season, the Eagle Mountain Kestrel project, monitored 18 Successful Nests. Those nests resulted in 73 Nestlings being banded by HawkWatch International for continued research and conservation efforts. The effort included hundreds of hours by volunteers to monitor the nest boxes and collect the data. We are hoping for another productive season this year, and hope to catch even more footage with the upgraded camera. Councilmember Colby Curtis volunteered to help with the installation of the conduit and the network cables for the new camera, along with several other people who work with the project.

Councilmember Curtis commented on the Eagle Mountain Kestrel Project, “I’m amazed by and grateful for the work that HawkWatch and the Eagle Mountain Kestrel Project volunteers like Shon Reed, Mike Kieffer, and Brian Smith do. They work incredibly hard to take care of these unique and majestic birds of prey.” Councilmember Curtis has always been willing to help the Eagle Mountain Kestrel Project, and has been one to fight to limit high density and protect open space in Eagle Mountain while protecting individual property rights. Eagle Mountain has been fortunate to have Mayors and Council Members that are willing to help and support the project by passing initiatives to protect open space and habitat that is ideal for these amazing birds. The Kestrel cam will now be able to give us a high definition look into the nesting habits of one of the nesting boxes that are scattered through out the Eagle Mountain area. The majority of the boxes reside on private property, but the City of Eagle Mountain has also allowed for the installation of several boxes on remote city owned property. Each year the kestrels that are hatched in Eagle Mountain are banded and scientific data collected. Their DNA is collected and measurements of each fledgling is taken. The data is then added to the other data collected by HawkWatch International. Once the camera was installed, we were able to capture a fight between the Kestrels and some European Starlings that are in competition for this particular box. European Starlings are an invasive species of bird that competes for the nesting boxes that the project has put out for the Kestrels. Here are some additional photos of the conduit install for the camera. Remember to check back often to see what new things you can see on the Kestrel Cam. The upgrade for the camera was done funded by personal funding and some contributions from Safewell Window Well Covers and Mountain View Nursery. Both of which are local Eagle Mountain businesses. Here is a video from the old camera for last years season.