HANOVER, Pa. — An inside look into a local bald eagle’s nest that draws hundreds of thousands of eyes is in jeopardy and needs funding to continue running. The Hanover Eagle's Next Livestream Camera, a view enjoyed over the years by people around the world, is currently shut down.
HDOnTap, the company that runs the livestream camera, discovered in September that power to their devices from a nearby home had been cut when the home was removed. Now, they are asking for the community's help to get it back online.
"We are trying to raise money to pay a local contractor to trench about a thousand feet and reestablish power to the electronics box to get the cameras back online," said HDOnTap owner, Tim Sears in a video about their fundraiser.
Karen Lippy began watching the eagle’s nest in 2003 when she was a Codorus State Park volunteer. She would set up a telescope for state park visitors to see the eagles. She has since tuned into the livestream regularly when it first became available in 2013.
"I watched that eagle almost from the time she was 2 years old until she disappeared in 2022," said Lippy. "No one ever realized how big this was going to get. Over a million people watch this camera every year."
From leisure to education, she says the nest livestream has had a huge impact on people across the world.
"From seniors to young children, it just means a lot to everybody," said Lippy. "There's so many people that said they were housebound and couldn't get out anymore and that camera became a lifeline for them."
"It’s not an option for these cameras not to exist, in my opinion," said Kate Alexander-Barone, marketing and public relations representative at HDOnTap. "We’ve witnessed amazing things on this camera and we’ve been able to talk about conservation and education of bald eagles in a way that did not exist."
Lippy has been posting pictures and videos daily to keep the Hanover Eagles followership updated while the camera is out.
"I always say when I retired, I got a new job," said Lippy. "I go out and play every day. I go home and post my pictures and then I go to bed and get up the next day and do it again."
HDOnTap looked into solutions to bring back the camera and they discovered the cost of trenching and restoring power was much higher than anticipated. Lippy encouraged the company to start a fundraiser. She was confident that the Hanover Eagles community would step up when they were needed most.
"There are so many people that have a passion for these eagles that I was pretty sure we would get the money raised," said Lippy.
In less than a week since the fundraiser was posted, more than $7,000 of the $10,000 goal has been raised. It's community support that HDOnTap never expected.
"We’ve been getting closer and closer and now we’re almost at our goal which has all feeling super grateful," said Alexander-Barone. "We never anticipated this so it means the world to us that we can make this happen."
Lippy hopes after the fundraising goal is achieved, she, along with the rest of the Hanover Eagles community, will get to once again appreciate the unique nesting site in a milestone year.
"I’ve met so many people, made so many new friends through this," said Lippy. "I’m really anxious to have our 10th year, I just think it’s a great milestone."
For more information on how to donate to bring the Hanover eagle's camera back online, visit HDOnTap's website.