If video is not appearing above, click here to refresh this page. Also try clearing your browser cache, closing and restarting your browser or restarting your device.
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.
I second all of Carole’s appreciation below. Thank you to everyone who made this possible! And to this community that always commented kindly and supportively. I will miss these special creatures and wish them every bit of strength, good fortune and success possible in the coming months. May we be lucky enough to see Rachel and Carson back here next spring.
They must have all flown away
I’m heartbroken because i cannot- even see one of them.
You can keep watching osprey here: https://sportsmansparadiseonline.com/dunrovin-osprey-nest-cam/
DEAR SURFERBOY, YOU MADE THIS 83 YEAR OLD ELDER SO HAPPY. IT WAS LIKE A GOOD HEALING PILL FROM THE DOCTOR. SMILE MANY THANKS,LOVE JOAN
Glad you like…..keep in mind this camera scans around this beautiful Montana ranch from time to time.
I know.
But I miss them….. 😉
I miss them too . Empty nest syndrome 😂
Just want to thank the Mashpee National Wildlife Refuge and especially Glenn for giving us the opportunity to enjoy up close and personal the Osprey family of Rachel and Carson. It has been a wonderful and educational experience. Safe journey to their winter home. We shall be waiting for the Ospreys return in the spring.
Me, too. I am so appreciative of the WBNERR, Glenn, and the MNWF for this viewing opportunity. I am also so very thankful for the lady who introduced me to the book “Silent Spring” by Rachel Carson. Without her I would have never known about this history.
Without her, nor would I have learned about this osprey cam 🙂
Perfect. An empty nest.
They are roosting in the nearby trees.
Does anyone know where Carson is? He has been absent for – what seems to be – the past month. I have seen Rachel make cameo appearances and only one chick hanging around the nest. Has the other chick (maybe the older one) flown off?
Perhaps he was straffing the juvenile?
Looks like mom is back….17:41
We have 2 osprey that sit in a dead tree near our house. They bring in small fish and eat them starting at the head, work their way down the body until the entire fish is eaten like a candy bar. They take their time and just look around.
It’s good to know that things are progressing for the juvenile. Hopefully getting stronger & more self sufficient for the long journey 😀
I stand corrected. Thanks for the clarification.
It’s not an opinion, it’s an easy to observe fact. It’s pretty obvious to discern a juvenile from an adult.
Maybe I’m cheating with my view…..I use my 60″ tv as my desktop monitor. Then again without it I can’t see much.
August 26, 2023, 9:03 P.M. I have been monitoring the nest today beginning at 11:15 a.m. From 11:15 a.m. to approximately 4:57 p.m. the nest was empty. At 4:58 p.m. Echo? flew into the nest and stayed until about 6:19 p.m. Echo’s behavior during this time period was quite gentle, chirping pleasantly with a minimum amount of demanding attention. He flew off at 6:19 p.m. and as of my last check at 9:00 p.m. the nest was empty.
I sure hope that today has been a red letter day for Echo and that we will see less of him starting tomorrow. This would be best for him.
Like you I have been monitoring all day. The juvenile spent last night and most of the morning on the nest. However, that was the female mother who arrived and stayed almost an hour and a half. Everyone should be happy that the juvenile left the nest mid morning and did not return, even when it’s mother did.
This is the season where the adults start pestering the young to get to work. I once watched (not far from this nest)) on a very rainy day as 3 juveniles sat in trees while a nearby adult squawked at them. The other adult came fast up Washburn Island and knocked them off their perches. They looked like bowling pins. They youngsters got to flying and the adults sat together. I knew just how they felt. “Get a job!”
Luv it 😂
😂😂❤️
All 5 of the nests I’m watching have at least a single juvenile hanging around and still being fed.
Spent a bit of time studying your pics and its hard to tell but the lack of an obvious necklace (that juveniles display) on the intruder makes me think your friend could be right. Looks to me like an adult did the buzzing.
I’m a little concerned that Echo is sedentary & not flying around much or fishing for food. How will he/ she survive in a few weeks?
Anyone else concerned about this?
Very much concerned.
Exactly
Glen – your thoughts please.
I remember last year when there was a lot of concern about Charlie, who spent most of his (or her) time in the nest and didn’t seem to be interested in fishing or flying. But as the end of the season got closer, that pattern changed pretty quickly. There’s still at least a couple of weeks before it’s time to begin their migration, so all we can do is hope for a fast turnaround. I also watch (from the ground) another nest, where a juvenile seems to be always in the nest whenever I look. I’m not overly concerned – they seem to know what’s best on their own.
If you drive around looking at nests, most have 1 or 2 osprey on the nest most of the time.
A wet – and vocal as ever – Echo waiting for breakfast/company/excitement/sunshine.
Great pics. Hope Glenn can post the video
has echo brought back her own fish, or any idea if echo can fish?
So I am coming to the conclusion that the adult chick in nest (I think y’all are calling “her” Echo) is a female (look at her brown necklace – just like Rachel’s). The intruder is a male (or – I think – becoming a male because the tiny tiny brown spot on his chest is just that – tiny!). This male intruder could be the Echo’s brother!!! OK – pure speculation.
PS – thank you so much for posting all those great action intrusion shots!
Here is some well researched info that might be of interest to you. Osprey do not reach adult plumage until about 18 months of age. Like Glenn had posted a while back, we will never know the sex of these juveniles. Somewhere on this interweb there is a study where researchers attempted to sex banded juvenile birds. When the birds reached adulthood the researchers were wrong 70% of the time. There is also a pic (that I posted here last year) that shows a mating pair of adults on a nest and the female has no bib or necklace.
Thanks for update and info.
Great captures of Echo being strafed. I watched this morning after reading this has been the trend last few days this one squawking on and on. If it’s Echo, it’s likely a parent or another sibling or cousin giving message it’s time to sink or swim and to get airborne to learn how to thermal and search for next meal. It’s getting to the point soon that the “clan” will begin migrating. Plenty of fish hatching from ponds and other morsels around but if this one doesn’t catch on….well the strafing is to coax it to follow and learn how to thermal without expending much energy while hunting for the perfect moment to dive on an inspecting fish…waiting for it to come miraculously is just not in the cards.
If you’ve watch any thermaling
Nice photos!
As I’ve told you in the past, you get the most Amazing pics! This intruder buzzing occurs quite regularly however the juvenile on the nest usually goes airborne and confronts the intruder head on. Never seen it cower flat like in your buzz 3.
How do we know this bird is Echo?
……could be the juvenile from the neighboring nest.
Remember it came to feed and Mom fed it?
impossible to know.
I have thought about this also.
All of us who watch and wish to protect our birds, wildlife and human health need to be aware ….
https://www.capeandislands.org/local-news/2023-08-23/evaporation-of-radioactive-water-increases-at-pilgrim-station
This is so annoying. The promise was made that the shut don’t would be “clean” and certain protocols were given to show the process. Plant got sold and the new owners just did as they pleased saying that these promises were not made by them so they do not have to follow those rules. grrr
Echo “tucked in” for the night – and remarkably silent! 😉
Well its around 4pm on August 23 2023 and Echo?, otherwise known as “squawker” has returned to the nest to begin the regular afternoon/evening chorus of demanding some attention.
Great shot!!
Echo in the nest and non-stop squawking for breakfast at 6:40 am. (Methinks she would be a tad less hungry and use fewer calories overall if she didn’t spend so much time squawking…. 😉
did the baby birds leave the nest
Fantastic wing action pic! Such a beautiful Osprey
Try again
Cool to see Rachel with Echo(?) still together sharing fish on nest…each day less & less nest activity
Thanks for the updates, Dena!
Yes Dena. A bit sad that the season is ending….not quite an empty nest as yet. Nice this one juvenile is using his/her voice with much conviction! 😉
I will miss watching Ospreys in flight & hearing their calls…the nest in my area are still active but less & less…
WooHoo Thanks
break-🐟
😊👍
Back at nest..,
Tiny visitor
at 9:41, a hummingbird landed on the side of the nest! it’s a little too big for him
1/2 🐟
Peaceful moment…sweet 🥰
The other day it had a redfish. I did not see the fish brought in but it still had it’s head and was very lively. Like you say the wounded one held the fish with it’s right leg through all the flapping about that the fish was doing. Unfortunately I did not see it eat yesterday. It also is very comfortable sleeping up on the wooden rails.
Pure Survival Instincts
I have yet to tune into the wounded soldier. I do wonder if it’s possible for an Osprey to fish with one talon, so I googled it & what popped up
“Osprey snatches fish from water with one set of talons”
YouTube – Mark Smith-Apr 8 2023
So let’s just think collective positive thoughts 🙏
Good call! ❤️🤞