The last couple of posts made me realize that we have so many new members here that don't know all the history of our cameras and the "Guys" ....
The webcam is a partnership of lots of folks. CBC Manitoba provides the website, streaming software and band width for all traffic to the website. Shaw provides us with the dedicated internet connection year-round which not only allows us to watch the birds but also watch for them before and after the nesting season. Last year and again this year, Shaw provided us with a second connection for the West Winnipeg birds.
In our first year (2006), Shaw donated a camera for us to hang off the side of the Hotel -Eye-Spy was the one who actually figured out how to hang it (no mean feat!!). That camera is still in operation - its the spycam - and is invaluable for finding out who's home and when!! In 2007 the birds nested in the nestbox and so we needed different cameras and suddenly Eye-Spy was installing the smallest camera I had ever seen. And when the storms of 2007 (as bad as this year but with Elie Tornado) took out the camera, he was replacing the camera almost before I called him. In 2008, just to mix things up, the birds decided to nest on the ledge and Eye-Spy turned up with another camera that we could operate remotely (the spycam was our first) and we had camera #3, the nestledge cam, which made such a difference in 2008 and 2009 and changed alot of things about how we run the webcam. Now in 2010, there are three cameras on the east-side - the nestbox cam and a nestledge cam and now the skycam which is the nestledge cam re-tasked. Eye-spy has donated all of the camera equipment, all the computer equipment (for streaming & recording) and all the installation and maintenance work.
Starting last year, Eye-Spy also donated a camera for the West Winnipeg birds because we couldn't keep a close-eye on them. This year we have two cameras on Jules and Beau and their chicks and the ability to watch them remotely and record them as well.
None of this would be possible without Eye-Spy's generosity!!