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Welcome to “Season Four” of our osprey cam! Carson arrived on March 20th, 2025. Get ready for another exciting season of osprey viewing at the Waquoit Bay Reserve, brought to you by the Friends of Mashpee National Wildlife Refuge
If you’d like to show your appreciation for the nest cam, please Support the Friends of Mashpee National Wildlife Refuge! As a nonprofit volunteer organization, we support a wide variety of education, research and stewardship projects within the Mashpee Refuge to ensure the long-term protection and enhancement of native wildlife and habitats.
Thank you in advance!
We are thrilled to offer this live stream of an active pair of Osprey at their nest at Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. The pair are appropriately named Rachel and Carson, after the famed environmentalist.
This opportunity for a bird’s eye view of a beloved bird’s habitat is the result of a collaboration between The Friends of Mashpee National Wildlife Refuge, which helped plan and locate the site for this unique “nest cam,” the Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, one of the Refuge partners, and Comcast, which generously provided the equipment, installation and broadband connectivity to power this viewing experience.
One of our goals as a community-based nonprofit is to give the public opportunities to enjoy and interact with nature and wildlife. Thanks to Comcast, the live streaming of this osprey nest will broaden our reach to all of Cape Cod and beyond. We are grateful for the opportunity to use the live nest cam for observation, research and education purposes.
View highlights from 2025 (“Season Four”)
View highlights from 2024 (“Season Three”)
View highlights from 2023 (“Season Two”)
View highlights from last year (“Season One”) – mating, egg laying and hatching, feeding and more!
Please feel free to comment below with your observations or any questions you may have. We welcome your comments and questions! If you’d like to see a list of questions other viewers have asked, please see our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Ospreys and the Nest Cam. You may also want to read this article to learn more about ospreys on Cape Cod.
Please note that first-time posters must be approved before comments are displayed, and allow up to 24 hours before your initial post can be seen by others.
I agree with comments about lack of attention on the nest and also wonder if Carson hasn’t really returned yet. I try to compare the markings of Carson from past seasons to the other osprey that have been seen so far this year. That hole in the center of the nest worries me as well. Although I did see one of the osprey bringing soft material several days ago. It certainly wasn’t much however.
I’m curious if this has anything to do with the owls that have been there in the evenings that visit all night?
I thought that too so I did a Google AI search about osprey sense of smell and it said that “ospreys, like most raptors, have poorly developed sense of smell and rely heavily on their eyesight and hearing . . .”.
Yes Kim. Im sure the Osprey roost in the trees near the nest and see the Owls there at night, and makes for insecurity….and they should go elsewhere. before they become an evening Owl repast .
I recall that Carson was late last year and had to battle the other male off the nest. Yes Sandy and Kim, I had wondered too if the owls were making them reconsider this as a safe location. It would be a terrible thing to watch that so let’s hope it sorts itself out. Also does anyone know if the Ospreys that nest on the chimney have come back?
so i’m questioning my initial i.d. of carson returning on 3/20. i’m pretty sure that this is rachel who has been sitting on the nest, but the fact that there isn’t more mating or nest building is confusing.
I did see 2 matings but do wonder about who’s who. I have seen a lot of “waiting and looking around” and as you mentioned not enough nest building. Looks like there is quite the hole in the middle of the nest that needs desperate repair and no one seems to be focusing on that.
something is off-is it possible that carson still hasn’t arrived?