A recent addition to the field is a camera trained on peregrine falcons on Alcatraz Island off the San Francisco coast. The live stream, a collaboration between the National Park Service and Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, has attracted more than 130,000 users, according to the conservancy.

In a single square acre, the Black Point historic gardens pack quite a punch of late-spring blooms. Poppies, silver bush lupine, elegant Clarkia, mustard, wild radish, yellow bush lupine and yarrow stretch out in the sun. Rock phacelia, stone crop, tidy tips and borage line the walls.

Just decades ago, peregrine falcons were largely absent from California. But now, a pair of the birds are nesting on Alcatraz Island in what officials call a "tremendous conservation success" – and you can watch their family live online.

This is the first year the public can watch the live broadcast of Larry, her unnamed partner, and her four chicks — all approaching 1-month-old and almost ready to fledge — courtesy of the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy.

A pair of the fastest birds in the world are nesting on Alcatraz Island in what officials call a "tremendous conservation success" – and you can watch their family blossom live online. The Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy has launched a live stream of the nest.