Red Rock website continues to grow

The Red Rock Lake Association is continuing to develop a pilot education program through its Gladys Black Nest Cam website that debuted earlier this winter.

The popularity of the Decorah eagles this past year is a testament that Iowans and folks from all across the globe care deeply about wildlife and natural resources. All generations, especially school aged kids, teachers and parents watched the eagles’ activities online from nest building through the eaglets making their first flight. This interest and eagerness shows a need to increase the awareness of natural resources locally.

The nest camera is placed above a 2011 eagle nest along the shores of Lake Red Rock. Disappointed, but not discouraged, the pair of eagles that had been using this nest has decided to move and this year no eagles will be at the Gladys Black Eagle Cam site.

“We are still hoping that another raptor species will adopt this fine piece of real estate,” Marion County Conservation Naturalist Marla Mertz wrote via email. “The camera will continue to feed coverage and monitor any changes to the Red Rock nest. The Raptor Resource Project has graciously allowed us to place the famous Decorah Eagle Family camera feed and Ustream link on the www.gladysblackeagle.org home page.”

Despite this “setback,” educational opportunities will be posted on the website for all grade levels preschool-high school.

“Marion County and central Iowa is fortunate to have an array of natural resources and history available to educators,” Mertz wrote.

The website allows easy access to the identification and description of plant and animal species and answers many of the most asked questions on conservation topics such as water resources, wildlife surveys, and geology.

The site will also provide links to local environmental issues, local videos and other topic-related websites.

“We hope this cutting edge project will allow better accessibility to the environment by bringing the outdoors to homes and classrooms and thereby inspiring folks to explore the natural world in their own backyard,” Mertz wrote “Just as Gladys Black inspired so many people to learn about and be out in the outdoors, we hope this website is equally as inspiring.”