Raptor advocate, Decorah eagle cam leader dies suddenly

A leader in the organization that sponsored the wildly popular Decorah bald eagle cam died suddenly Sunday while helping neighbors clean up tornado debris in Minneapolis.

Rob MacIntyre, 52, president of the Decorah-based Raptor Resource Project, “is believed to have died of a massive heart attack” while wielding a chain saw, said Bob Anderson, founder and director of the organization.

Anderson said MacIntyre's own home was heavily damaged in the tornado that struck north Minneapolis on Sunday afternoon, killing two people, injuring at least 30 and damaging or destroying hundreds of homes.

“He was a great man and one of my best friends,” said Anderson, who worked with MacIntyre during the past 25 years to breed peregrine falcons in captivity and help them reclaim their historic breeding grounds on the bluffs of the upper Mississippi River.

“He was the mad scientist who developed the mini-cameras implanted on falcons to document their striking flight abilities in the film, ‘Raptor Force,' ” Anderson said.

MacIntyre and Anderson built the first eagle nest cam in Colorado in 2003, and MacIntyre provided technical expertise for the Decorah cam, which this spring has attracted more than 100 million hits, making it “the most-watched video stream on the Internet,” according to Anderson.

MacIntyre, he said, was a robust and energetic man who showed no signs of ill health before his sudden death on Sunday.

Dave Kester of Decorah, a frequent Raptor Resource Project volunteer, said MacIntyre's death “hits us right in the heart.”

The organization has many supporters, but “the core group is really small,” he said.

Kester said the raptor project board of directors was established to support Anderson's work.

“We will certainly miss Rob, but we will keep moving forward,” he said.