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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.
Time to eat
It is so sad to see the older chic pick on the younger. Tough to watch 🙁
Yes it’s very tough and if it’s anything like year one it’s gonna get even tougher so strap in for that 😞😣. Alph ( first chick to hatch that year) beat down Charle ( the little one) unmercifully, but in the end they all made it through. Lots of food helps keep it down so hope Carson continues with good fishing 🤞🤞
All enjoying brunch…pic shows Kilo getting his/her share
One of the elder chicks is bonking two of the other chicks. It’s awful to watch. This occurred while Rachel flew off the nest briefly. Does anyone know if birds try to establish Alpha status amongst their siblings as do other animals?
We’re aware of the issue with the live video. It may take a while before someone can reset the equipment on-site. Please be patient while we address it.
The video is back but frozen on both my devices (or very very very slo mo) – even after clearing cache. Maybe another reset???
live stream is on
Same here
Is anyone unable to see the live stream video?
Unable to see this am at all
I just got the same message
Why would another Osprey want to attack?
I think one of the baby’s are trying to see what the parent sees
I’m new but how am I able to tell which is Carson and which is Rachel from the back
Blake, typically Rachel will have her wings spread just a bit to protect the chicks and also she will be the bigger of the 2.
Welcome to the Osprey watchers. Rachel is larger & spends all of her time on nest, takes short flights…Carson brings in the fish. Their markings on head are different too, so after observing you will know easily who is who…also go to highlights & you’ll see the difference in appearance as well as behavior…
Carson guarding, very vocal with other Ospreys is the area
I just started watching at 1:24 and believe to have seen an interloper – yet again and Carson was at nest, too.
Glenn are you able to go back and see if there was a “swoop” in by an interloper?
A2Z, I do know how to screenshot, but I had just started watching and did not have any reaction time to do so :-(. That is why I was hoping Glenn could go back and see if there was a swoop by an interloper.
A great way to achieve getting the pic is to watch on 2 separate devises, I use my iPhone & laptop. There’s a slight delay between the two which allows me to see action on laptop 1st then get the screen shot using iPhone
Good luck 🍀
Definitely a potential attack from a 3rd osprey.
…and a second one I caught just a little while ago. This one seems to be a different bird though.
glenn- do you think the second one was a female given the necklace?
Glen
Your observations on Kilos feed was spot on! This morning Kilo is enjoying a hardy feeding keep upfront in line.
It’s 9:15pm & it looks like Rachel is trying to get everyone settled for the night. But one little chick, I think it’s Kilo, keeps peeking his head out. Such a great evening to watch.
Great shade for the chicks!
glad there’s 4 for now
Maybe Kilo is just having a delayed start this morning considering all the rain we had last night. I’m just happy to see him/her alive. Let’s all stay positive 😉 Charlie had the same struggles & yet he fledged
Pic is Charlie in flight
Great pic Dena! Also, keep in mind that since Kilo is nearly a week younger than the oldest, he/she doesn’t require the same amount of nourishment. Maybe an occastional skipped feeding is due to that.
This is my favorite pic of Charlie
great pics! carson seems to be providing enough fish so hopefully all 4 will soar like charlie
Awww, Charlie!!! He took a little longer than the others, but he did well. Very nice pictures of him.
Yeah!!
The youngest was not feed this morning just the other three!
poor kilo didn’t get a bite to eat in this latest feeding and now carson arrived and took the fish with him 😩
Too bad this cam doesn’t have the 24 hr dvr. On 5/27 Carson was feeding Rachel while she had the 4 ospelets under her. I have never seen dad feed mom like that. Amazing birds!
Break-fish cometh and break-fish goeth! Carson comes in with a sizeable fish but chicks must be sleeping and Rachel is enjoying quiet time because Rachel is not interested just yet and shortly after Carson takes off with the fish!
I hadn’t previously seen that behavior. Would have thought any time was the right time for food with wild animals. Especially after a night of T-storms and rains
I had only watching for 10-15 minutes at the time — was that fish #2 of the morning? Gave her additional chances with repeated presentations and then left – with his fish. Maybe it wasn’t Carson/wrong address for delivery – ???
A lot of rain about to fall on them. Lightening also. If the platform was bigger, it could have a little shelter of sorts nailed on to it, but they probably would not use it. Hmmm the black bag raincoat .. does anyone know, would an Osprey think of covering chicks to protect them from the elements??
The other day, after the bellies were full and too tired to hold up their heads, Rachel stepped on a chick, it squawked, she stepped on the same chick again, it squawked, she started to step on it for a third time, it moved. Rachel continued on with her nest cleaning, the area that was under the chick. Maybe this is how she gets them to change their positions, to get out of the way, and also to tuck them in just before she covers them. I thought for sure she was squishing the poor little thing.
Did you see Kilo (Kilroy😀) being fed
Yes
Oh WOW – another interloper just now! Rachel was with the chicks without Carson, but he arrived shortly after with a fish!
Excellent question, which I had to research a bit. I read that an adult osprey consumes about 400g per day, or between 1-8 fish depending on their size. The chicks probably don’t require very much at this stage, but as they grow that will change. Providing for a family of 6 is sure to keep Carson busy!
In honor of her birthday (thanks Donna for that tip!), we just reprinted an article from our Summer 2022 newsletter about Rachel Carson.
https://www.friendsofmashpeenationalwildliferefuge.org/2024/05/27/so-who-was-rachel-carson-anyway/
Truly incredible person. So grateful for all that she did & went through for the Osprey & other wildlife. We are all very fortunate for without her recognizing the dangers & taking action we would not be watching this magnificent Osprey family 💕
Hi All here is a pic of the Rachel Carson Bridge in Pittsburgh…Donna mentioned it’s her Birthday 🎂
❤️
All 4 being fed
And now it’s nap time.
Kilo getting much fish 🐟
Wishing Rachel and Carson and their brood much success, especially today – which is Rachel Carson’s actual birthday! Many thanks to the Falmouth Osprey Project. I intend to donate.
I just posted the video clip to the highlights page. Here’s the direct link: https://www.friendsofmashpeenationalwildliferefuge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Bag-removed-from-nest-5-26-24.mp4
The Osprey Project is dedicated to the Osprey of Falmouth, Ma and the community that rallied around them to erect safe nesting sites for birds nesting on utility poles. Many thanks to the Osprey Project and Mick Moriarty for their heroic efforts to avoid potential disaster in the nest! You can donate directly to their cause here: https://www.falmouthtogetherwecan.org/general-8-1
Thank you for the video & the link for donations. We love our Cape Cod ospreys & appreciate those who keep them safe.
WOW! He made that look easy
oh wow! i missed it in real time. what a smooth operation-in and out-with the bag while it looked like rachel was flying overhead ready to dive bomb him. kudos to all who made this happen.
Thank you for sharing the clip of the bag removal. It was comforting to see it no longer posed a threat to the young osprey family.
Job well done!
Thank you.
Youngest one needs to get pushy. Not one bite at the 7:30 feeding.
Close up
Break-fish!
❤️!
Whew! So glad the nest is cleared….To the Falmouth Osprey Project, hip- hip Hooray! 👍🏼
I missed all the bag removal excitement yesterday but it’s great news that the plastic bag is gone. Thank you to the Falmouth Osprey Project. I’m looking forward to Glenn’s information on this organization.
I missed all the excitement today but sure am glad the bag has been taken care of. Now it looks like pecking order is being established…sigh