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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.
Is there a way to rewind this live feed? I heard some commotion a few minutes ago. I think Carson tried to bring some food to the hungry mama and another osprey got away with it. I just wanted to be sure I saw that right. Did anyone else catch it?
if you post the time it happened (time stamp on feed), the admin can go back and look. They sometimes post those things in the highlights
Awe too bad. I didn’t write down the time. I only know that it was within a half hour of my comment. I’ll note the time if I notice it happening again.
Hi Laura. I was able to find it. Carson brought back a fish, but escaped with it as the intruder appeared. Here’s a screenshot – the intruder is the one hovering at the center. Carson is on the right flying off with the fish. Thanks for posting!
Excellent action pic capture Glenn and thank you Laura for calling it out.
Wow! Thanks for grabbing that!! I’m happy to know that Carson got away with the fish. Looks like a big catch.
There you go Rachel ☔️
😂
😆
🤣❤️
Nest construction is coming right along to accommodate this years brood!
7:30PM changing of the guard for nesting duties. 4 eggs visible
*Phew*! 🙂
Thank you Sandy. That fixed my problem on the IPad.
Great! You’re welcome. 🙂
Clicked to refresh, still no camera on ipad.
Can see it fine on iPhone.
Cleared browser and now corrected.
May 1, 2023, 8;20 a.m. ish, noticed a gray squirrel moving around in the evergreen tree to the left of the nest. Does not appear to be trying to get into the nest itself.
I saw that squirrel a couple days ago too. I hope it finds a new place to hang out. I checked online and learned that if the osprey are hungry enough, they’ll make a meal of it.
No camera for past 2 days
Lots of rearranging of the nest this morning by both Rachel and Carson after the stormy night last night. I am only see it 3 eggs though, hopefully the 4th it is just hidden.
Need your sea legs 😄 the whole neighborhood’s a rockin
Rachel is so resilient protecting her eggs in this inclement raw weather!
Tough night to have nest duty. Torrential rain in several different waves after 9pm.
Some nest material in the foreground seems to have fallen off.
I always find it fascinating how Carson and Rachel communicate during the nesting season!
Mating , hatching ,fledging and then flight. It is purely amazing.
I don’t think I like how much the nest box seems to be shaking in the wind… I hope it’s gonna be okay…
Might be the camera shaking, not the nest
Hopefully at the end of the season after they vacate the nest they can get back up to the nest and do some preventative maintenance. Due to the fact the nest was occupied this Spring they had to minimize their time at the nest and could only do curative.
Probably is just the new camera mount and not the pole. Some times when new hardware is added adjustments have to be made.Being a former aerial bucket operator I will share with you it is very easy to test a pole for as far as how well it is anchored in the ground. When you are at the top just grab the pole ( you have good mechanical andvantage) and try to move it.If you can then the issue is where it is anchored. It is a normal procedure to if you suspect it can be loose!
the camera and nest look to be moving together when the wind is blowing.
Nice fish and parental duty shift at 1024 this morning.
7:30AM Carson fending off osprey intruder
4 is enough 😵💫 Carson is quite the amorous osprey 🫣
The parents are older this year and may be wiser .. bring back more fish .. feed the eldest chick first so won’t be stealing from younger chicks. Happened a little last year, Alpha got full and napped.
Well that’s great on the one hand but let’s hope that the chicks have a little different disposition this year as those of us who followed the nest last year can attest, it was beyond unbearable sometimes to watch the aggression with which Alpha ( first hatchling) attacked Charlie ( last hatchling). Many of us didn’t think he’d survive the beating. Really hard to watch, but somehow that chick survived and eventually he thrived!
definitely 4 eggs now. Been checking all day as I thought I saw it this a.m. around 9:20 but this is first time I could get a pic. I don’t recall Carson being as “amorous “ last year as this, and as surfer boy mentioned it will be hard to feed them all.
Fantastic!
Looks like 4 eggs now…..
Just another snapshot of the happy couple.
Oh wow – more mating. But as Steve mentioned in an earlier post there would be too much competition for food. Need to keep this rated G but I guess they are just loving each other!
Does Rachel ever eat? I haven’t seen Carson bring any fish back yet this year.
Sometimes they switch places. Rachel flew off at one point this morning, and I think it was Carson who returned shortly after to lay on the eggs. I believe that’s Carson still on the nest now.
From what I could tell, Rachel was gone for about an hour this morning, while Carson tended the eggs. She returned about 7:30 and they switched places again. I assume it was a breakfast break for her.
I’m watching at night, and I have some questions. First, doesn’t the light bother them? Secondly, there is only one bird (I’m assuming the female) in the nest tonight. Don’t they both “sleep” there? If not, where is the other one?
There’s no actual light shining on the nest at night. The camera uses infrared (IR) technology. The IR spectrum is invisible to both humans and birds, but the camera captures the light. The male will often roost in a nearby tree at night.
Oh thanks for that information. I love watching them and I’m glad we’re not disrupting their sleep! Good to know about the male sleeping nearby. I’ve tried that before, it’s not always well received. 😉
😂
birds don’t sleep in nests like people sleep in beds. They prefer to roost in trees. Even chickens have a roost in the henhouse. Nests are for eggs and baby birds.
Rachel and Carson mating again! I would love to see 4 maybe 5 eggs!
4 and 5 would struggle to survive the competition for food……
Yeah, like hungry teenagers raiding the fridge. 🙂
I watch 4 Ma osprey nests. This year, this one, is the most prolific by far. A rogue (horny) male harassing the nest often leads to a delay in egg laying (as in Gloucester the past years) but not here. Oxford has one egg, Brewster 0 and Gloucester 0
Carson babysitting
so so so so soooooooooooooooooooooo cool
Carson returns
Did I see 3 eggs?? or was it just part of the nest? 04/23 about 11:15 ish
3 eggs
That is excellent news!
3 eggs in the nest!!!
3 beautiful eggs for sure this morning!!!
Three eggs for sure!!!
I saw 3 eggs at 10am
So, after a few attempts to land a fish for Rachel… Carson is back (no fish ). Competition nearby …
Finally now Rachel is gone and Carson will guard the nest. Good luck Rachel.
Hey! A fish… wait a sec…. Nope. Carson came in with a fish at 7:30. Then flew off again with it.
Maybe he was being threatened by the other osprey? To be continued….. 😉
Pretty windy out there!