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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.
9/4/2024 18:45 Carson delivered a fish
7:30 9/4 Juliet with a fish dinner. Not sure if she caught it herself or if it was a delivery from Carson.
Where fore art thou Juliet. Here!
Glenn, thank you so much for all your contributions. You add so much to this site!
Several people have commented that it is Juliet who remains on the nest. We assume the youngest is the last fledgling at the nest – last year it was Echo, the year before, Charlie. I contacted Dr. Alan Poole, noted Osprey researcher and author of two books on the subject, and asked whether it is typical for the youngest to remain and “guard” the nest. He responded: “Not sure I have any data to suggest that the latest-hatched chick is most likely to linger at the nest, although it’s a reasonable assumption that it would be the one most in need of food. In any case, the young don’t really “guard” the nest — the nest is simply the place where the young come to find food — delivered by the male parent. More independent, better fed young are less likely to continue coming to the nest for food. In fact some could have already left in migration.” He also noted that “in areas where nests are fairly close together, our research has shown that young sometimes fly to nests that are not their own, and get fed there. Lots of nest fluidity at this time of year.” He also said that it’s a reasonable guess that Juliet is female based on the dark bib, contrary to what I’ve said previously. He’s the expert, not me! So, yes, I’m going with the story that it is Juliet we are seeing, and Hotel and India have either moved to other local nests, or slowly moving South, maybe stopping at other nests for a bite to eat.
https://www.amazon.com/Ospreys-Revival-Alan-F-Poole/dp/142142715X
Thanks for passing along that info Glenn!
There are definitely other osprey still around the nest. You can hear them in the background.
Glen, much appreciated for following up with Dr.Poole and passing on this information.
It is amazing how early Rachel heads south (it seems she’s been gone almost 3-weeks now), yet next year Rachel and Carson both meet up at this nest.
I’ve been watching the chicks circling around Shoestring Bay over the past week. Didn’t see many fishing, rather it seemed that they were “mapping” out the area because, as I recall from the PBS Osprey episode, some of these chicks will return in 2 years time.
Great info! Thanks so much, Glenn.
When will Juliet head south ?
Black sea bass delivery 9:08:30
I checked in this morning just in time to see Carson delivering a nice big fish. He immediately flew off, Juliet carried on as usual but finally settled down to eat.
thanx. hopefully she’ll learn to fish herself soon
so I’ve been checking in every few days and have only seen one osprey (Juliet?) on the nest. have the others already left or has someone seen anyone else join Juliet?
I was wondering the same thing. For the past couple weeks – at least – I have only seen Juliet (which I believe to be a female based on her awesome necklace) there each time I check in, too. Juliet has been squawking up a storm each time as well.
she’s a squawker just like her mom😂
8/28 around 8:20am –One of the ospelets must be fishing now. Came back wet and empty talons.
Very good catch Bob. Definitely wet and water in ear. Probably a tough and long process taking off from submersion first few times so likely a bit waterlogged.
Dad made it look so easy!
Carson? brought breakfast 7:27am. Juliet still squawking
This nest on Tobey Island in Bourne has a red net in it! Would have loved to see the osprey carrying it up.
Apparently we humans are not the only ones that like a little bling, ha ha!
Nancy, thank you for the Big Bear tip. I checked it out and it’s great. It will be wonderful to have them to watch when our Osprey are gone.
James G mentioned how much the nest has fallen apart without maintenance since the chicks have grown up. I put together a before-and-after to show just how much. The fortress on the left is from 4/16. The nest on the right is today
Interesting that you show this comparison. I stopped by the nest Friday and took the attached pic showing a lot of the twigs at the “annex” platform nearest the camera. I am assuming they moved the twigs since there is such a depletion of twigs at the original nest from April!
Maybe the lack of maintenance is beneficial to the success of the chicks. The configuration changing over time to gives the chicks more room as they grow and later on to practice wing flapping and to make for better take offs and landings as they learn to fly. Also the flatter nest might give them a better place to practice feeding themselves.
Thank you for the comparision🌱
I want to share this info before we’re all “empty nesters”.
friendsofbigbearvalley.org has a superb bald Eagle nest cam. There won’t be much activity until January but well worth monitoring. You can access it now for info on last season’s activity. During one severe snow storm Mom Jackie sat on the eggs for 62hrs straight!
Nancy, thank you for sharing link. I was monitoring this last year as well as a Port Lincoln Australia Osprey nest!
Not forgotten 11:38
Wow – Papa Carson makes a cameo. He drops off fish and leaves within seconds. I’m assuming that Rachel has gone for season and this chick will be fed by Carson for another couple weeks(??) until their migration back to SA. But what is so odd is that even after Carson drops off lunch this chick continues to squawk for about 5 minutes before finally quieting down and eating!
Hi! During Charlie 2022 season Glenn mentioned sometimes the last to fledged would take on the task of guarding the nest, so perhaps Juliet has taken this roll as Charlie did. I do think Juliet is a male, much smaller than Rachel & same size as Carson. Just a guess. Haven’t seen Rachel at all…anyone else think Juliet is a male???
14:43 today.. has anyone seen Juliet eating?
Early this morning, the poor bird was squawking as loud as it could and kept it up for over 20 minutes, and maybe longer after I stopped watching.So distraught. Maybe starving for fish. Squawking again now, must be for food.
Early this morning being inbetween 2am to 4am. I did not make note of the time.
I love seeing the one osprey that sleeps at the nest.
During the squabbling the other day, one of the chick had his head down. Very submissive posture. Is there a bully in the group?
fantastic tug of war between siblings over a fish on 8/17/2024 from 18:32:20 to 18:34:20.
find the incident and watch a little before then a little after the times shown. This is really an observation of “life in the wild!”
Thanks Paul – great observation! I posted part the sequence. I’m not sure which chick is which, but I’d guess the one on the right (who took the fish) was either Hotel or India.
Does anyone have a problem with the video constantly freezing/spinning wheel? I have gone through the motions on my iPad, iPhone and apple computer to clear cache to no avail. This has been going on for over a week now.
No problems for me.
Hi! At 12:55, the local crow family came to the nest to scavenge for fish for about ten minutes while the osprey family was away
12:56 today Thursday Aug 15. Three blackbirds in the nest, just hanging out. Two left, one stayed for a bit then flew off with something in its mouth from the nest.
Has anyone noticed any concerning behavior? Do all the chicks seem to be on a good trajectory?
My wife watches constantly and is worried that the chicks may not be getting along with one another.
It’s normal for the chicks to exhibit some agressive behavior towards one another, especially over food. This year’s offspring seems to actually have gotten along better than what we’ve seen in the past. Remember that they are wild animals and must learn to survive and outcompete others for food, nest locations and later, mates. No need for concern!
Thank you for your reassuring response. My wife will still worry.
Thank you for responding 👍
Is that the mom who is constantly on the nest or one of the offspring.
Thanks
While sometimes it seems to be Rachel, I’ve observed mostly that one of the chicks remains on the nest. You can tell the juveniles from the adults by the white tips on their feathers.
Glenn, please check out, I could be wrong. Rachel has a tail feather that is always out of place. I think it was like that last year also. I look for that when I am not sure who is who.
Has anyone observed a chick bringing a fish to the nest or are the parents still providing food?
At this point, the chicks are stil dependent on the parents for food. Over the next few weeks, they will begin to learn to fish on their own, a skill they’ll need before their solo journey south later in September!
It is interesting how fast their nest falls apart without daily maintaince!
I noticed that as well. They need quite some additions to this nest.
One chick feasting on a huge fish this morning.
Tug of food war but finally Juliet wins 8:54.
3::28am 😟 wet and windy
I thought this was a nice pic!
The ospelets are very aggressive when Rachel brings them fish! She has had her leg grabbed many times. She usually leaves quickly.
Two chicks hanging out in the nest, looking rather bored. It seems like time could be better spent strengthening their wings or learning to hunt. When I was young, & if I was hanging out, my mom always told me to “go outside & play”. Was anyone else raised on the belief that “idle time is devil’s play”.?
I will be sad when this family migrates South. It’s difficult not getting emotionally attached to them.
A few comments.
It’s definitely too early for any of the chicks to migrate. I can’t tell the chicks apart, so hard to say which one or two we are seeing at any given time. They may be rotating their time on the nest, alone or in pairs. Wherever they are, they would still be brought their meals from Rachel or Carson.
Glen, thank you for update ✅
Hello everyone! My first comment here but have watched since first season. I have noticed one of them favoring its foot? Has anyone else noticed?
I remember discussing this in previous years. It seems to be something they do. Giving one foot a rest I think.
Oh, good to know! Thank you! I’m glad it isn’t something of concern.
Two crows in the nest 8:10am
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Glen, just tried the link and got this “502 Bad Gateway“. Not sure if anyone else has seen this when following (or copying and pasting) the link. Maybe it’s the time of day?!
I’m not sure what the issue was. I checked the link and it seems to be working. Maybe just an off day for the site? Try again if you can. Thanks!
Thu Aug 1 7am Juliet isn’t happy with Mom, she is not sharing the fish. She did walk away from it, Juliet figured out what to after another squawk or two. I really do enjoy watching them.
I am so grateful for the rewind feature. I like to take a peek at what went on throughout the day. I always find it hard after the chick’s have fledged. I get so used to them always being there.
I see posts about the visit from the raccoon. How can I view it, can’t seem to find out how to do it.
Hi Jerry. Go to the Season 3 highlights page. The raccoon clip is the last one on the list so scroll down to find it.
Thank you.