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Welcome to “Season Four” of our osprey cam! Carson arrived on March 20th, 2025. 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 2025 (“Season Four”)
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.
Excellent – more mating at 4:53am. Last night I did not see Rachel sitting/sleeping on perch but believed that one of them was on top of camera for the night.
Thank you to the gentleman that fortified the nest around 7:43 this morning.
👏👍 he did a very thorough job. I think Rachel is pleased
Any video of the repairs
Yes, see the highlights page.
There is nothing on the highlights page about the rebuilding at 7:43 today 6/4
What was the title of the highlight
Sorry, forgot to update the page. Should be there now.
8:47 Carson and Rachel back on the nest, and mating!
Excellent. There have been a couple other matings so hopefully, as mentioned earlier, no more than about 10 days for Rachel to lay an egg.
Sometime today, the nest is going to be inspected, and if any gaps or holes are found, it will be patched. This may help in determining what happened to the last two nestlings
thanx glenn. we are all heartbroken over the loss of the chicks and watching rachel is so sad
At 6:45 am Mrs is on the nest for a bit. Mr shows up with a fish. She quickly takes it away from him and flys off. It seems the fish never have heads. Ha ha do they steal them from the local fish market 😂
6/3/25 starting around 16:48 and for ten or fifteen minutes there were a series of close flybys on a single osprey in the nest by four or more birds that I think were ospreys. I don’t think they were paying respects.
I was away from the cam for awhile. So sad to not see the little ones.
Glenn, any chance of posting videos just before they disappeared to when they were gone? Did your camera feed show anything indicating they went down the middle? Or like a previous year when Carson took the dead hatchling out of the nest?
They are God’s creatures .. Part of his plan for them.
This is so sad.
Have we been able to determine exactly what happened to the chick’s? Video?
what has happened to the chicks?? 🙁
I’m so sad for Rachel. She is by herself at the nest. It tough to watch.
There is the possibility that foster chicks may be put in the nest. Wouldn’t that be fabulous?
So sad but that’s nature. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to witness/watch?
I was wondering if the 3 babies are still alive?
I feel so bad for Rachel (and of course Carson). Seems like she’s been spending a lot of time in the nest. She was there most of last night, too.
9:46 Rachel inspecting empty nest.
5/31/25 There were three instances of three birds in the nest at the same time with one chased off by the other two. 10:01:55, 12:27:27 and 12:41:06
What’s up with that?!
don’t know. there have been other similar skirmishes.
so it would seem that they are trying for another clutch. i believe it’s usually 10 days for an egg to hatch after mating, not sure if it’s the same timeframe for the second go round. i wish them well🥰🤞🙏
That is such great news! I sure hope everything works out too. The good takeaway is that they could be here longer this season if she does end up laying an egg(s)! 🤞
the weather will certainly be warmer than late may has been and even the human snowbirds are staying later into the fall🤷♀️😂
Just saw them mating, so I guess we see what happens 😎😊
he brought her a fish
she took it and flew off with it.
around 5:35 am
Maybe this fall we should take a look at this nest to see what is actually structurally wrong with it and see if we can’t help avoid this scenario again. Kevin and I will talk to Glenn about that idea. The platform is solid but maybe we can add an additional piece to it.
Is anyone not seeing video?
7:03pm I have video
Sorry – it was me. Needed to clear my history.
I saw the mating. 15:42
lets hope the nest can be repaired before any eggs are laid.
Wow Really, amazing how instinctively they go forward to continue to preserve their species…incredible determination
What a beautiful photo!!
My husband took pic, a nesting pair for several yrs, located Squeteaque Harbor along side Megansett Rd – Garnet Ave on the town line Cataumet & North Falmouth. Beautiful spot! Great walking trails too…Baxendale Woods Conservation Area (BCT Trails)
Wow! That is amazingly gorgeous!
If you live near by you should check it out. You can park at the trails or along Amrita Island bridge & walk up road to view. Probably the closest you’ll ever get to see an Osprey nest. The dead tree in pic is on road & the male hangs out there…they fish right there too…so very cool!
Thanks! Yes i am nearby and look forward to seeing this IRL. 🙂
♥️ ❤️
This so encouraging
I wonder with all this rain if the middle of the nest collapsed and the babies are there?
If they did fall thru and we are able to find at least one of the chicks, would we be able to do an autopsy to see if it was poisoning?
I’m sure you’re the only one that thinks that’s funny Dick, I mean Merc
Bird flu. Would be good to know.
😊
I’ve been following several osprey and bald eagle nest cams this season. There were several disasters across the country. I’m very saddened by Rachel and Carson’s loss. Last season I mentioned the bald eagle nest at Big Bear Lake. The two young eagles are close to fledging.
Watching them might help to lift spirits a bit.
Thank you for reminder! I have been watching that nest since they were being incubated! Yes – it can be a little calming to watch our national birds at Big Bear Lake. It’s amazing how Jackie and Shadow have endured during snow storms protecting their chicks – Sunny and Gizmo. ♥️
I have been seeing a bird in my neighborhood over the past month or so. I’m not sure if it is a white heron or an egret. It’s beautiful and always alone. Today I saw it with three young ones. ❤️🩹 Just what my heart needed today. New life.
I can hear chirping and now I see a hole in the nest
Mating at 15:42
Oh boy, the osprey expert Glenn spoke to said it’s too late in the season to start over.
I googled second clutch after first dies, and it’s possible if it’s early enough in season. not sure if it’s still early enough
Sweeeeeeeeeet! There is still hope! 🤞
SAD day!!! Hopefully Brewster nest does better! Cape Cod Museum🤞🤞🤞 of Natural History
I’m watching that cam now too… 2 of 3 eggs hatched as of today.
although very tragic I’m glad to see both Rachel & Carson together at nest
I think I hear chirping and she keeps looking down!
Where are the babies ?????
Has something tragic happened? I see an empty nest this morning; no adults or chicks. 😢
I have been watching this site since the beginning and have really enjoyed it. I am so sad that it has ended this way. Maybe there was something wrong with the chicks and it’s nature’s way of taking care of it. Hoping next year will go better. Thanks Glen for your monitoring of the site and your input. I appreciate the work you do for it. I’ve learned a lot about osprey.
Does anyone know why the nest looks empty this morning, with no sign of the chicks, or Rachael and Carson?
The chicks are gone…..😢
At 1:06 am the nest is empty and you can hear something, an animal
Hi Amy, see posts below for details…very sad
I was just checking in to see them too. I’ve read all the way down in the posts to learn what might have happened. This is so so sad. 😥
Is there anyone at the Reserve that could check underneath the nest on the off chance that a chick could have survived the fall? This is such a devastating development!!!
9:54 am there are 4 people on the path opposite the nest. Hoping they are aware of this situation and will report back