Nature Done Wright

The Red-shoulder nest — now in its fifth year.

Earlier this month, Ben Wurst of Conserve Wildlife Foundation worked with Chris and Allan Fix of Chris Fix Tree Service in Midland Park to install a cam, microphone and infra-red light above Allendale's Red-shouldered Hawk nest (above).

Installation day; nest is in the tree in the background; photo gives you a sense of how high up the nest is — about 40 feet up the tree.

We cannot thank Chris Fix Tree Service enough for donating their time, equipment and expertise to this project.

Ben also did an all-around terrific job.

I have created a photo gallery (not to be missed) so you can see the equipment, the team and the installation, which took several labor-intensive hours.

The next step is to get the cam connected to the Internet and get everything up and running before month's end.

Once the cam is online, you will be able to watch the nest around the clock during nesting season, which could begin in two to three weeks.

Let's hope that the Red-shoulders will use this nest once again, as they have successfully the past four years.

(Thanks, Chris, Allan and Ben!)