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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.
5:11 pm Saturday
Rachel is “talking” and shaking her body. Any idea what this means?
5:06 pm
Rachel keeps “talking” and shaking her body.
Does this mean something?
2:30 pm Carson on the eggs. He moved them, cleaned under them, then snuggled down.
I think one egg will hatch tomorrow.
Well, here it is Friday, May 20, 2022. Baby watch from May 20 to May 26 is now underway! Will the first baby be within the time frame or will he/she be late?
Rachel looks ready for breakfast – Carson you’re late.
5/19/22, 6:54 a.m. Rachel sits and searches her surroundings. Carson swoops in with a fish, cleanly beheaded and clasped in his claw. Landing on the side of the nest, he places it gently near Rachel. She rises from her eggs and samples the meal. “Delicious, thank you.” In an instant, Rachel grasps the fish and flies off. Carson, alone with the eggs, steps closer, as if to say, “Good morning, my loves. It’s OK. She will be back.” He pushes his chest softly against his charges and settles gingerly in place. “My turn.”
Or unfortunately looking for a snack…… I had done some research previously, and I just double checked. Southern flying squirrels are considered one of the most carnivorous of the squirrel species and they supplement their diet with eggs, small birds and carrion. I didn’t want to be a downer for everyone so had not added that to the squirrel conversation, but it looks like the sparrows are not around anymore. Has anyone seen them? I haven’t seen them in ages. I am wondering if the attraction to the nest has been the sparrow’s nest and eggs. I would hope he wouldn’t test the osprey.
Thanks for the info about the squirrel. I haven’t seen the sparrow in a while either
5/18/22 1:55:00
The return of the flying squirrel! This time it nearly went completely in the nest! Talk about nearly becoming a midnight snack…!
Great catch! I added it to the highlights reel. Thanks!
What is Carson doing when he isn’t at the nest or fishing for Rachel or himself? Is he just hanging out elsewhere?
I find it troubling that rope was brought back to build there nest.
It shows me that this may commonly happen. Rope, netting, fishing line can cause entanglement injuring the Osprey.
5/16 17:50 the pair were doing some home improvement together- both of them holding the same little branch!
I love when they they lower their head and fall asleep..
Glenn the 4-24 video is the best! Both Ospreys working together arranging the new stick. Also shows the different coloration side by side. Just wonderful…Thank you!
Sleeping Carson.
I am not seeing the female, at all. I think it is the male calling for her on the nest. I am nervous, heartbreaking right now.I do hope all is ok.
is it Carson who keeps flying back and forth. He seems agitated. Where is his mate/
Why are the eggs left alone?
Was worried there for a bit with neither Rachel or Carson on the nest! But one is back!!!!
Have noticed that the interior of the nest (where the eggs are) is getting smaller. The sides also appear to be changing…getting thicker and taller. Why?
With higher temps out (finally!), the eggs probably don’t need constant warming. But they’re likely always near enough to keep an eye on the eggs. They’ve been building up the nest continually – getting ready for the eggs to hatch and keep the chicks walled in. Osprey nests can grow to be several feet deep.
6:58 No one on the eggs.Bird comes and goes.
May 13 at 12:41pm
Carson checks on the 4 eggs.
A nest cam viewer shared a link to a PBS Nature episode entitled “The Egg: Life’s Perfect Invention” (with David Attenborough) which describes the process of how an egg is formed and why birds lay eggs at all. While not specifically about ospreys, there’s a lot to learn about eggs in general while we patiently wait and watch Rachel and Carson incubate their eggs. Thanks to Rich L. for sharing!
Rachel back..
Carson left the nest unprotected,
Carson warming eggs.
I was at an event last night, so missed all the excitement. Thanks to everyone who observed and posted about what occurred! Even from the recordings, it was hard to assess exactly what happened. It seems another bird startled Rachel, almost pushing her off the eggs. In the commotion, one of the eggs got moved off to the side a bit, and Rachel left it apart from the others when she returned. She then laid down on top of the three that remained together, leaving the fourth beside her for several hours. Eventually, it was moved back in and now she’s sitting on all four. I don’t really know the answer to the questions about whether they can sense if an egg isn’t viable, or why it was left aside for so long. But now everything seems back to normal. I think we just have to assume they know what they’re doing!
Carson was sitting on the eggs while Rachel left the nest for a little bit. On her return I saw all 4 eggs and she sat back down while the male flew off.
Brought back a fish.
The nest was deserted.
What happened? I only saw one egg!
Ah ha that’s good! Did anyone see who moved it back? So maybe off that egg for a little over 4 hours 🤔? I hope that works out ok……
Now warming all 4 eggs
20:32
I’ve read that birds can detect a dead egg.
Looks like she’s back on all eggs.
Is that a piece of rope/twine at about 025 degrees? If so, are they using it for bedding material?
Might be down to 3. She had one egg WELL OFF to the side of the nest earlier. Just moved it slightly closer but still apart from others and barely under her right hind quarter. 🙁 visible minimum 19:45 through 19:55 5-10-22
It 7:48 pm and it looks like Rachel has abandoned an egg 😢. I had just turned in and it was 3:58 this afternoon and there was a flurry of wings to the right side of the nest another Osprey came in I don’t know if it was Carson. Rachel sprang up out of the nest and flew off and when she did her foot kicked one of the eggs a little bit away from the other three but not as far away as it is now. She came back shortly and then Carson came back and landed on her back he flew off and then she settled in on the eggs at that time that fourth egg was still under her tail. I stopped watching shortly after that but just heard from family members who are also watching and alarmed that she seems to have now kicked it way out to the side. It’s very sad maybe. Maybe Glenn can go back starting right at that 3:58 time frame and figure out what happened? I wonder who then moved the egg out to the side of the nest? Did anyone else see this happen? Is it common for them to abandon an egg, would she know if all of her eggs are viable and this one is maybe not?
Just noticed the same and posted almost simultaneously. Barely back under her now. No longer way off toward the camera / 5 o’clock position of the nest.
20:06 male returned to the nest. She moved the egg slightly closer but not much before leaving He looked at it for a few seconds and then settled only onto the other 3. Just behind his left wing. She returned at 20:08 and left the outlying egg alone. Only warming 3.
It’s like she was so startled by the event she did not recognize it as hers when she returned. She would be started if she knew how many of us are staring at her 😳. 🤞🤞
Startled 🤦♀️, my stupid iPad keyboard 🥴
Is that an egg out of the nest?
It appears she has moved one egg to the side and is ignoring it. She also seems very restless. What is happening?
While watching Rachel sitting, so patiently, on her eggs, I’m thinking: Mother Nature sure is magical!
I drove by today and saw the nest location!
I looked it up: it takes 35-37 for osprey eggs to hatch.