Over the winter, a Great Horned Owl has been visiting the nest at night regularly. Here’s a brief clip of the owl with its prey, some type of rodent it appears. Another clip the next day, of the same owl landing on the nest and hooting away! The owls are fun to watch, but hopefully, they will yield the nest to the ospreys when they return next month. We look forward to the return of Rachel and Carson for the 5th season of our Osprey Cam! (2-11-26)
First sighting of the season! Hard to tell who they are with only a rear view, but so exciting to have them return! (3-23-26)
First egg. Rachel lays her first egg of the season! (4-8-26)
On Earth Day, Carson brings a fish and Rachel gets up to eat, showing her 3 eggs. (4-22-26)
Breakfast in bed! On a rainy Sunday morning, Carson feeds Rachel while she sits on the eggs. (4-26-26)
First chick emerged last night (May 15th)! Here’s a brief view of Rachel with the new hatchling.
Three chicks! Rachel and Carson do some nest maintenance, giving us a good view of the 3 hatchlings. The chicks, now only a few days old, emerged from their eggs on May 15, 17 and 19. (5-20-26)
Three chicks being fed by both Rachel and Carson, now about 10 days old. (5-27-26)
Carson brings breakfast for Rachel and the 3 chicks. All enjoy a nice fish! (5-28-26)
On Monday, June 22nd the three chicks were banded by DCR’s Office of Natural Resources, with assistance from DCR Forestry, and volunteers from Waquoit Bay Reserve, the Friends of Mashpee NWR and Mass Audubon. Having the chicks banded will help for future identification, tracking of sightings as they migrate, when they return, and other research purposes. This is not an electronic tracking device, just Federal and auxiliary bands with alphanumeric codes. The chicks were removed from the nest, brought to the ground for banding, then returned to the nest. The entire process took about 15 minutes. Here are some still photos from the ground:
A close-up shot of the oldest chick, “Oscar”
“Oscar” being banded
“Papa” the second chick being banded
The youngest, “Quebec” being banded
“Papa” before being returned.
“Quebec” before being returned.
Returning the chicks to the nest.
Finally, a video of one of the chick’s being banded.
7-12-26 Sadly, the 2 smaller nestlings did not survive, due to what appeared to be lack of food. This was terribly sad to watch as these unfortunate events unfolded in front of our eyes. A statement we received from Stephanie Ellis, Executive Director of Wild Care, Inc. explained this well:
Like so many people watching this nest, we have been deeply concerned about the condition of these chicks. Over the past several days, there were long periods in which food deliveries were infrequent, a pattern that is unfortunately being documented in osprey nests up and down the East Coast. Scientists and conservationists believe that changing environmental conditions, including shifts in prey availability linked to climate change, may be contributing to these heartbreaking losses. At Wild Care, we do not believe in “nature taking its course”. This is because most of what we see in wildlife rehabilitation is connected, directly or indirectly, to human impacts on the natural world. For that reason, we worked with partners, including the Osprey Project, and in coordination with WBNERR, made plans to intervene and rescue the remaining chicks if conditions continued to decline.
However, over the last 24 hours, the adult osprey has resumed feeding the nest more regularly. Because a parent bird is actively caring for the surviving chick, we have made the difficult decision not to intervene at this time. This decision is not a sign that we are giving up. Rather, it reflects the reality that once young ospreys reach the point of severe dehydration, emaciation, and neurological impairment from prolonged malnutrition, rehabilitation is often unsuccessful despite tremendous effort and resources.
Sadly, the younger chick had already reached a critical state yesterday, and did not survive. For now, the best chance for the remaining chick is to remain with its parent in the nest, where it continues to receive care. We will all continue to monitor the situation closely and remain prepared to reassess should circumstances change.
We share the sadness and concern felt by everyone who has been watching this family. Thank you for caring so deeply about these birds and for understanding the complexity of these decisions, which are always made with compassion and thoughtfulness for the animals.
7-18-26 Over the last week, the oldest fledgling, Oscar, continued to be fed by the adults, mostly Carson. Why the availability of fish turned around over a short period of time remains a mystery, but we are happy to report that Oscar seems to be doing well, eating 1-2 fish per day and leaving the nest for short periods of time. Here’s a great close up of the fledgling looking right at the camera, until it tries to fly up to the camera, but misses and hits the perch. Not to worry, he seemed fine afterwards.
Oscar defends the nest from an intruder, a juvenile from another nest. And again a few minutes later. (7-20-26)
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.
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.
Learn more about osprey on Cape Cod.
If you’d like to show your appreciation for the nest cam, please Support the Friends of Mashpee National Wildlife Refuge! Thank you in advance!
Season One Highlights.
Season Two Highlights.
Season Three Highlights.
Season Four Highlights.