In the village of Trempealeau, along the Mississippi River, two bald eagles built a nest resting about 70 feet up in a white pine.
John Howe, executive director of The Raptor Resource Project, prefers to watch this pair on his big screen TV at home in Minnesota.
“It’s an incredible experience,” Howe told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today.” “I basically call it news from nature.”
Stay informed on the latest news
Sign up for WPR’s email newsletter.
This once endangered species has made a remarkable comeback in Wisconsin. And recently, The Raptor Resource Project began sharing this pair of nesting eagles with the masses.
On a publicly available webcam, people can view these two eagles nesting, laying eggs and soon, hopefully watch baby eagles emerge from their shells — as hatching season is in early spring.
The Raptor Resource Project has about a dozen live nature cams positioned around the Midwest to stream, including their most famous in Decorah, Iowa. They feature eagles, falcons, kestrels and vultures.
As of 2024, there are more than 220 bald eagle nests in the state, according to a report from the annual Bald Eagle Nest Watch. The Raptor Resource Project is likely the only active, publicly available eagle cam in Wisconsin, Howe said.
It is meant for everyone’s enjoyment, but moderators and leaders of the project also collect data to track the life cycle of the birds.
“There’s a whole language of what bald eagles do through their nesting cycle,” Howe said.
He joked that moderators, who spend time observing the birds and make notes in an online chat, also have their own language to talk about the habits of the eagles.
Instead of dictionary, for instance, it is a “dictioneyrie” — eyrie being the word for a raptor nest. And they also prefer the term eaglish (pronounced EEG-lish) to English.
Howe said one important observation is the location of the nest. Most bald eagles nest in cottonwood trees because they are often close to water — convenient, as eagles primarily eat fish. But the Trempealeau eagles have their nest in a white pine tree.
Howe said the nest has likely been there for a few years. It can weigh up to a ton or more, as the raptors are avid, architectural nest builders.
“If you’ve been into the northern part of Wisconsin, or know the difference of the wind blowing through a regular deciduous tree versus a pine tree, there’s just that gentle whispering of the wind going through the tree,” he said.
The nest’s location in the white pine likely creates protection from the harsh wind and weather conditions.
As the eagles continue to grow and the eggs hatch, the eagle cam is available 24/7.
