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Welcome to “Season Three” of our osprey cam! 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 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.
Perfectly Peaceful 9 AM feeding. Chicks all taking turns. Little one got plenty of fish without taking any abuse.
Does anyone keep track of which fish species they favor?
most seem to be manhaden or bunker. key fish in the foodchain
Our rivers are still giving up a lot of herring; large schools. The Mashpee River has a very plentiful run and several osprey are fishing here all day/ Maybe Carson is one of them???
Feeding time 9:15 am
Another
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hundreds-dead-cormorants-marthas-vineyard-bird-flu-warning/
Daily feeding patterns are inconsistent from a human perspective. Yesterday the male brought 4 fish from 11 AM thru 3 PM
That’s great to hear!:)
This is of concern
https://www.capecod.com/newscenter/hundreds-of-dead-birds-wash-ashore-on-marthas-vineyard/
I’d really like to know what Carson is doing all day….
8:10 am Rachel squawking and looking skyward……fish must be late…
8:30 pm Rachel calling for fish it appears.
I am unable to view the chicks due to cloudy lens. Will it be better viewing soon? I noticed in the discussions that everyone can see the chicks
Sharlene, due to an unfortunately bullseye aim by one of the chicks, the view has been compromised. ( see Highlights for the event)
it seems somewhat better today and hopefully back to normal soon.
I think how clear it looks depends on the direction the sun is shining.
3 pm Nice fish delivery. Little one may live to see another day as long as they are well fed.
2:40 PM little one taking another beating. He/she almost pushed over the edge with both parents on the nest.
How long before the “kids” start learning to fly?
You could expect one or two of these to fledge mid to late July
thanks…looking forward to that
11:22 AM feeding. Fish was on the small side. Mother seemed to know and ate almost nothing herself.
Something grey is blocking the camera
Unfortunately, one of the chicks pooped on the lens last week. The recording is pretty funny:
https://www.friendsofmashpeenationalwildliferefuge.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Chick-poops-on-camera-lens-6-16-22.mp4
last feeding? anything today?
Two chicks standing?
the biggest baby was going after both the others, actually pulling out feathers from their necks until they hid their heads (8:30 pm)
I saw that also
You know the old saying, “That which doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”? It’s actually more applicable to raptor chicks than to humans. If younger, smaller chicks manage to survive the attacks from older, larger siblings, it means they’re strong enough to make it as adults. The mother instinctively knows this is nature’s way of sorting out the ones that are too weak and it’s why she doesn’t interfere. It all has to do with survival of the fittest.
10:31 Male shows up at the nest empty handed. Female squawks, he flies off and returns 9 mins later with a good sized fish.
Would’ve loved to see that!:)
See the highlights!
Thanks so much Glenn! It’s a great one!
She really gave him a good squawking!
That was great timing to catch that interaction !!
Tlis it time for a rain dance to clear the poop from the lens?
I don’t think rain will do it. The camera is angled down towards the nest and also has a small hood shading the top.
Looks like all three chicks are enjoying their view.
Is the live cam not working today or is something blocking it?
Why is half the screen of the Osprey in fog?
An unfortunately aimed poop shoot from one of the chicks that “took out” half the camera lens. It’s a little better now than before since some rain lessened the left half obstruction somewhat.
Please, let’s not call the chicks “he or she” until we know for sure.
How and when will you know for sure?
Will their chest markings be developed enough by the time they fledge to tell the males from the females?
From what I read, yes. The female will begin to show her “necklace”.
Telling Osprey Sexes16 May 2016
https://hawkwatch.org/
This time of year is a great time to observe Osprey pairs (male and female together) as they are spending much of their time within a specific territory. However, try to observe raptors from a distance of course so as to not disrupt their nesting behavior or habits. Anyway, I have gotten several recent emails in regards to the reliability of sexing Ospreys based on the amount of streaking on their chest (often referred to as a “bib”). It was thought long ago that adults with a black-streaked chest were females, and adults that lacked the chest streaking were males, but I wrote in 1998 that this trait is variable on both sexes and not 100% reliable. Also, young birds of both sexes typically have a “bib” (that is of course variable), so don’t try to sex juveniles by this trait. It is true though that if you observe a mated pair of Ospreys and one of the birds has a bib and one does not that the one with the bib will likely be the female and the one with the clean breast will likely be the male. So, in a nutshell, the rule of averages play in favor of sexing Ospreys by their bib or lack of, but be careful!
Check out this photograph of a mated pair of Ospreys in Yellowstone, WY by my buddy Scott Edmisten (thanks Scott). This is a great example of both sexes lacking a bib…if the female (on the right, possibly the larger bird?) were to be seen alone, I bet most people would call the bird a male and never think twice about it. Well, now we can all think twice! Hope this post helps, and always feel free to comment and share your thoughts.
Very interesting. Thanks for the post, Sandy. I was guessing that, just like with eaglet chicks, it’s not possible to positively determine their sex. The “best guess” remains size at fledging — if both/all siblings are the same size, they’re possibly/probably all males or all females. But if one is markedly larger than the other, the big one is most likely a female and the smaller one a male since that’s as they will be as breeding adults. This is why my guess is that “Big Boi” and #2 are both females and the little one (we’re all rooting for) is a male.
But the Little one is 4 days younger than the largest so that contributes to its smaller size.
It definitely makes a noticeable difference for the first 6-8 weeks, but by the time they’re ready to fledge, their sizes have pretty much been set and it’s usually easy to see who’s who. A very small, lightweight female would not be able to survive to adulthood whereas a small lighter weight male would.
A vast percentage of juvenile males will display the “necklace” plumage until around 18 months.
Yes, that’s why it’s not useful for “sexing” fledglings. 🙂
I see little one, she is sticking very close to Mom, almost underneath her.
Joanne.
♥️
All three chicks are in the nest with Rachel watching over them.
I only see two chicks this morning. Has anyone seen the little one?
I think I just saw the little one… whew!
While we’re waiting for the lens to clear check out:
https://www.ccmnh.org/Osprey-Live-Stream
Poor little birdy. First one pecked at its head like it was trying to kill it. So it ducked its head down for a while. Then it picked up its head and the other two went after it at once. So it is ducked down again. They are certainly growing feathers fast now! Wish we could see them better.
Happy Father’s Day to Carson! He’s a proud poppa!
My Audi has windshield washers. The Osprey Cam could use one!
Oh boy, more rain and still no improvement 😟
the camera is at a downward position and also has a small hood over the top of the lens so it seems to me that the chances of raining cleaning off the lens are pretty small
baby went to the bathroom on the lens!
can’t see much now
7:40 dinner time 👍🏼
Has the camera been blurred the last few days?
Click on this link to see why. Lol
https://www.friendsofmashpeenationalwildliferefuge.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Chick-poops-on-camera-lens-6-16-22.mp4
11:45 AM It’s nice we can see all 3 chicks being fed!
just saw rachel feeding the 3 chicks. when will be able to tell if they are males or females?
We won’t be able to tell for sure. We can guess based on their sizes at fledging — the huge ones are probably both females and the little one is probably male. That’s all we have to go on.
Most of yesterday’s storm missed us (good for the osprey; bad for the viewers), so there was only about 5 minutes of rain, blowing from the wrong direction. Not enough to clear the lens. There is more rain predicted for tonight & tomorrow morning. If that doesn’t help, we’ll discuss other options, but I’m not sure there are any good ones, since federal and state law prohibits us from disturbing the nest. Even if we could, it would be risky to send someone up there, so close to potentially angry birds. Meanwhile, with limited visibility, let’s try our best to piece together the action, and feel free to watch the highlights and other sites that some people have mentioned. I like the name “Squirt” that someone suggested! I think it was either the first or second chick, but it’s hard to tell. We all hope this resolves itself as quickly as it happened!
Another camera on a pole away from the nest perhaps?
Next year we could think of a windshield wiper….LOL
How about a housing for the lens with a built in sprayer (with a reservoir filled by rain)? I have a feeling we could have this smear clear just to see another hit the target as these babes keep growing.
This is an incredible gift to experience. Let’s be patient, and let nature improve our view.
Since birds for the most part do not fly at dark if there was an aerial bucket available a person in the dark with an extension pole and a wipe attached to the end could possibly clean the lenses without the Osprey seeing them bellow the nest.
That would provide safety for the person cleaning the lenses and minimize disrupting the Osprey.
Well, it’s better than it was, so I suppose we should be grateful for small favors from the rain gods.
One of the babies is getting fed
I don’t think it’s big boi .
Can’t believe I am sitting here straining my eyes to see what’s going on !!!
Too close to the edge……here we go!