If you’re one of the thousands of people enthralled with Pittsburgh’s two pairs of nesting bald eagles, then 2017 is already shaping up to be a great year.

The Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania has installed new webcams near the eagles’ nests in Harmar and the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Hays. The upgrades promise better opportunities to view the birds and their offspring going forward. Both cams are expected to go live this week, though the birds themselves won’t kick into high gear until late February or early March.

Still, it’s great news for the vibrant community of eagle-watchers, many of whom exult at following the eagles’ lives. And the webcams, which have been made possible through collaboration between the society, PixController of Murrysville and the Pennsylvania Game Commission, do not often disappoint. The eagles’ keynote moments of 2016 weren’t all positive, but you can’t say they weren’t interesting.

Some webcam viewers were, in April, aghast when the live stream of the Hays nest showed one of the adult eagles bringing the carcass of a cat back to feed the pair’s eaglets.

Earlier that same month there was also sorrow when the society reported the pair’s third egg had turned out to be a dud, and would not produce a chick despite reports the previous weekend of possible “pipping” — the first cracking of an egg during the hatching process.

But all in all, 2016 was a big year for Pittsburgh’s two pairs of nesting eagles. This year the nests produced four healthy eaglets between them and, as of midsummer, the chicks had all fledged and successfully begun the process of honing their flight and hunting skills. It was a welcome turnaround from 2015, when neither nest produced any viable eggs at all. And across Pennsylvania the fortunes of the bald eagle appear to be on the rise. According to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, 2016 saw a decline in the number of bald eagle nests observed statewide, from 277 in 2015 to 239 last year. The commission, in a press release this summer, said officials weren’t sure if the nest count was actually down, or staff cuts had reduced sightings.

Either way, said Dan Brauning, the head of the commission’s wildlife diversity division, officials don’t believe the drop represents a decline in the state’s eagle population — which has made a dramatic recovery since 1980. That year there were just three pairs of nesting eagles sighted in all of Pennsylvania, and the nation’s bird was feared to be disappearing from our state entirely.

Fortunately, that hasn’t happened. Point-of-fact, the dial has surged in the other direction. And with more nests than ever able to be viewed via webcams, opportunities for eagle lovers to connect with these animals are more prevalent than ever. In 2017 people will even be able to watch the Harmar eagles at night; that webcam will have night vision capability.

Amid the sorry news cycles that wrapped up 2016 and seem poised to dominate 2017’s opening moments, these enhancements to the connection between viewers and the eagles they adore is something worthy of praise and celebration.