Two American bald eagles in Decorah, Iowa, is soaring, thanks to a web-cam that over the weekend streamed live footage of two of their three eggs being hatched. The third egg is expected to hatch any time. A YouTube video (below) of the first slow hatch, which occurred Friday and Saturday, has garnered nearly 300,000 views. The baby eagle first appears, through a tiny hole in the shell, at the 4:40 mark. It's is seen out of the shell at 8:03.
The second hatch (see video below) occurred Sunday. Pay close attention at the 7:30 mark and again, when the furry little eagle comes clearly into view, at 8:08.
Bob Anderson, director of the Raptor Rescue Project, which installed the baseball-sized camera near the nest, told CBS News that since the first egg was laid in February, the Ustream live footage has been viewed by 11 million people from 130 countries. On Friday, as the first egg began to hatch, more than 111,000 computers were watching the live camera at the same time.
Viewers are able to monitor the everyday movements of the eagles, which don't seem to mind being the invasion of privacy. (This is, after all, the reality TV era).
"These eagle cams touch many people in many different ways... it's amazing," Anderson said.
The popularity of the streaming video is so amazing that, at times, it has overwhelmed the system. Be sure to keep an eye on the Ustream link if you'd like to witness the third egg hatching. Here's the second hatch:
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