PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. – A pair of nesting bald eagles in Pembroke Pines could become global celebrities if Lisa Garza gets her way.
Pride and Jewel are father and mother to two baby chicks. Garza wants to install two eagle cameras to stream on the internet, but it isn't cheap.
"It is $25,000, and that is for two high-definition cameras, the tree climber and all the permits that need to be pulled," Garza said. "Plus, we have to pay Comcast and (Florida Power & Light) to come out here and run lines to the tree."
An eagle's nest in Fort Meyers recently went viral with millions of views as the eagles hatched live on camera.
The cameras won't be able to capture the action much longer, because the fledgling male and female will be leaving the nest soon.
"They are about a month old, and they will be here another couple weeks, and it all depends on the baby," Garza said. "Some stick around a little longer than others."
However, they keep returning to a nest off busy Pines Boulevard, just east of U.S. Highway 27, so Garza hopes to have the cameras operational by next nesting season.
The nonprofit South Florida Pines Eagle Nest, Inc. has only raised $3,000 toward that $25,000 goal, but its popularity is growing.
Since Pines Boulevard is such a busy thoroughfare, the city puts up barricades so that people don't pull over while the eagles are nesting.
Florida has the densest concentration of nesting bald eagles in the lower 48 states with an estimated 1,500 pairs.
Garza said the nesting spot 50 feet up in an Australian pine tree so close to the Everglades is an ideal location, so if everything is camera ready by next season, it's a virtual guarantee that the regal eagles will be superstars.
Anyone wanting to help the cause should visit SouthFloridaEagleNest.org or call 561-385-5585.