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Livestreams

This page is dedicated to our live cameras we have installed across the Platte River Basin.

Our camera's are powered by the sun, so at times, they could be down due to lack of sunlight.

Beaver Lodge

Location: Central Platte River, Crane Trust Property

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About the Location

Located on the Crane Trust Property , this lodge is protected as part of their 10,000 acres of conserved prairie on the Big Bend region of the Platte River in Nebraska.

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The Subject

This beaver lodge separates a manmade lake from a beaver-inhabited wetland. American beavers are the primary inhabitants of this lodge, but other popular sights here are great blue herons, American coots, red-winged blackbirds, and painted turtles. A recent study showed that beaver activity soars in the summer and fall, but drops off during the colder months when other animals utilize the woody home.

Research by Simon Tye, former PBT researcher and current PhD student in the Siepielski Lab at the University of Arkansas

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Other Facts

  • The cameras of this beaver lodge are mounted four feet apart on the same post.
  • During the winter, other animals frequented the lodge more so than the beavers themselves. Some of these animals include great horned owls, North American raccoons, and small mammals.

Underwater Beaver Lodge

Location: Central Platte River, Crane Trust Property

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About the Location

Located on the Crane Trust Property , this lodge is protected as part of their 10,000 acres of conserved prairie on the Big Bend region of the Platte River in Nebraska

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The Subject

This beaver lodge separates a manmade lake from a beaver-inhabited wetland. American beavers are the primary inhabitants of this lodge, but other popular sights here are great blue herons, American coots, red-winged blackbirds, and painted turtles. A recent study showed that beaver activity soars in the summer and fall, but drops off during the colder months when other animals utilize the woody home.

Research by Simon Tye, former PBT researcher and current PhD student in the Siepielski Lab at the University of Arkansas

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Other Facts

  • The cameras of this beaver lodge are mounted four feet apart on the same post.
  • During the winter, several other species were more commonly observed taking advantage of this beaver lodge than the beavers themselves. Some of these animals include great horned owls, northern raccoons, and small mammals.

Audubon's Rowe Sanctuary

Location: Platte River, Central Nebraska

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About the Location

Audubon’s Rowe Sanctuary, formally known as Iain Nicolson Audubon Center at Rowe Sanctuary , aims to preserve and protect the Platte River ecosystem and its bird species. The sanctuary offers tours along the Platte during crane migration season and educates about Nebraska cranes via school lectures and summer camps.

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The Subject

Positioned to get a sky-high view, this camera captures a wide area of Sandhill Cranes and river wildlife such as deer, bobcats, and other birds. As the cranes hunt for food during the day, the best time to monitor them will be during sunrise or sunset.

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Other Facts

  • This camera perches on a 35 foot viewing tower that captures a scene above the live crane camera that the sanctuary offers.
  • Our camera at Audubon’s Rowe Sanctuary was Platte Basin Timelapse’s first live camera!

Kingsley Dam

Location: Western Nebraska

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About the Location

Mounted on a communication tower on top of a public power and irrigation district office in western Nebraska, this camera overlooks Kingsley Dam. On the left of the dam lies Lake McConaughy and on the right, Lake Ogallala.

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The Subject

At twenty miles long, four miles wide, and 142 feet deep, Lake McConaughy presides as the largest reservoir in Nebraska. Nested on the opposite side of Kingsley Dam is the “little lake”, Lake Ogallala. Although created as an overfill space for Lake McConaughy material during the construction of the dam, the half-mile long and a quarter mile wide “little lake” has become an important recreation spot for fisherman and boaters alike. The Nebraska Games and Parks Commision supports the Lake McConaughy State Recreation Center , and the lake is a popular destination for watersports, camping, and hunting.

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Other Facts

  • Renowned for several fish species including rainbow trout and catfish, Lake McConaughy’s walleye fish population attracts competitive fishers from around the state. The state record for largest walleye was found in Lake McConaughy at 16lb. 2oz.
  • The rooster tail pulls the cool, low-oxygenated water from the bottom of Lake McConaughy and sprays the water into Lake Ogallala. By spraying the water, this puts oxygen back into the water which is important for sustaining fish populations.

Gudmundsen Research Station

Location: Nebraska Sandhills

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About the Location

Since 1981, the researchers at the UNL Gudmundsen Research Station have been studying the ecology, economics, and geology of the Nebraska Sandhills. Gudmundsen’s 1,200 acres of wetland prairies and 11,600 acres of sandhills allow for extensive research opportunities in this rare and unique ecosystem.

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The Subject

The windmill captured in this camera is one of several windmills on the Gudmundsen property. Each windmill pulls water from the Ogallala Aquifer, and cows gather around the pool to drink or cool off on a hot day.

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Other Facts

  • Platte Basin Timelapse has a timelapse camera, called the Sandhill Windmill, located at the pool and windmill shown in this livestream.
  • The Ogallala or High Plains Aquifer is the largest aquifer in North America, and one of the largest in the world.

Switzer Ranch

Location: Nebraska Sandhills

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About the Location

Located in the Nebraska Sandhills, the Switzer Ranch offers views of a vast sea of rolling mixed-grass prairie-covered sand dunes. The Switzer Ranch is a working landscape where cattle and people are an integral part of keeping the habitat and landscape intact and suitable for plants and wildlife.

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The Subject

In this cameras viewshed, you can see a hay meadow in the foreground with rolling sandhills in the background. This camera will periodically pan, tilt, and zoom to focus on different features in this area.

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Other Facts

  • The Switzers have many sharp-tailed grouse and greater prairie chicken leks on their ranch.
  • The Switzers get their water from the mighty Ogallala Aquifer which spans across eight states and is the largest in North America.