CAPE CORAL, Fla. — On Tuesday evening, people trickled into Rotary Park in Cape Coral. And while this place is known for wildlife education, the crowd is here for the story behind a camera.
This camera has documented the lives of some of Southwest Florida's most famous residents. In a slash pine tree, a love next featuring a Southwest Florida family sits 60 feet above ground in North Fort Myers.
The Southwest Florida Eagle Cam attracts thousands of people every year but that wouldn't be possible without one woman.
Ginnie Pritchett McSpadden is the co-founder of the Southwest Florida Eagle cam, which is on her grandfather's property and has been an interest she and her siblings wanted to share with the world back in 2012.
"Not in our wildest dreams did we imagine this would happen" is what Ginnie expressed to Fox 4 at the event. People in our community and around the world follow the everyday lives of bald eagles living on this North Fort Myers property.
The SWFL eagle cam has brought us into the lives of Ozzie, M15, and the newest additions, E21 and E22, and Harriet who suddenly disappeared earlier this year. "She's the mom... she would never leave her babies. We don't know exactly what happened but she lived an amazing life."
A big part of that life was documented on the eagle cam. A "project" that Ginnie says, keeps her family and volunteers busy. "There's a lot of hours that go into the technology... the operations." Gimmie oversees the team's social media strategies and public relations.
WATCH NOW | Ginnie Prichett McSpadden
She's working to share the cam's success and told the crowd it caught the first successful fledge of eaglets by a solo parent.
