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Welcome to “Season Five” 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 2026 (“Season Five”)
View highlights from 2025 (“Season Four”)
View highlights from 2024 (“Season Three”)
View highlights from 2023 (“Season Two”)
View highlights from 2022 (“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.
Carson fish delivery 8/3/26 @ 11:53:36
11:53 another fish delivery
So when and how is Oscar going to learn to fish?
When? Over the next month or so, Oscar will be trying out some attempts to catch a fish, but it’s unlikely it will be successful for a while. Meanwhile, Carson will continue to provide.
How? The ability to hunt isn’t taught by the adults, rather it’s an innate ability that juveniles discover when they are developmentally ready.
It will be very exciting to see Oscar bring its first fish back to the nest!
A very small pce of fish delivered about 9:37…. ‘Appetizer’ :/
9:37 Dad delivered a fish
8:37am small piece of fish delivered.
Nothing to eat this morning? Calling and calling 😞
Is Rachael still around?
I haven’t seen Rachel for about a week, but she’s probably still in the area. Female adults are usually the first to leave, but they typically won’t begin their migration until later in August or early September. She’s probably on a nearby tree or other place to perch out of the camera’s view.
When will he take off and not return until next year?
Usually not until at least mid to late September. Oscar won’t leave until it learns to hunt on its own and can be fully independent. For now Carson is still bringing meals back to the nest.
Fish delivery at 6:39am
Thank you for posting!
Fish delivery at 13:45
looks like it was Carson
6:47:35 Breakfish served by Carson
7:00 am breakfast snack!
Oscar flew from the nest around 9:39 and has not been back since, it’s now 2:21.
Fish delivery for Oscar at 6:40 this morning
Did anyone see Oscar eat today? (Monday)
For almost an hour today (from 1-2pm) Oscar was sitting/laying down close to her deceased siblings. I feel so bad not completely understanding what is actually happening.
This is highly unusual behavior of the parents, in July. I wonder if they had a problem with the bands on their chicks? Or it affected their instincts in some way?
there are other nests close by and there have been times when more than 2 adults and even another juvenile have shown up at the nest. I don’t think there is a way to tell if it is the parents behaving strangely or other osprey who don’t belong at this particular nest. I wish they were all banded so we could tell who is who.
Referring to the behavior of Rachel and Carson towards their chicks.
How do we know it is Rachel and Carson and not some other adult osprey?
Band is still on.
There are 2 fledgling, one banded and one not banded
there are other nests close by.
It was a fledgling from a different nest who was with #1…sorry so late responding.
Rachel wants Oscar out of nest probably to teach him how to fish
It’s happening again…poor Oscar!
7:01 Two birds in the nest, one pecking the other. This has been a strange season. I don’t recall any of these behaviors in the past.
I went back and looked. That certainly was interesting and went on for a while. It would be nice if they were all banded so we would have some idea of what is going on between them, like rivals from other nests, young from previous years returning.
Strange behavior indeed. Either Rachel or Carson pushed Oscar off the nest
I didn’t notice the leg bands. Thought it was two adults.
One was definitely Oscar, I saw the band. Not sure if the adult was Rachel or Carson, I’m leaning more towards a nest takeover.
Looked like two adult feathers
Nest is empty on Friday night at 9:30 pm
Carson pushing out of nest an intruder @ 16:55
Is Oscar Leaving at some point? What’s next? I’ ve been watching the osprey’s on this site since day one. I love it. I’ve seen many survive and many die. I am from Venezuela where they come for the winter. I live in the USA and have a home near the actual nests where I stop here And there to personally see them. I just want to see them make it. Sorry if ama bit sentimental. Rossana
What a nice thing to see something that visits your homeland come back to visit you each year. Like bringing good wishes back and forth. Amazing that things in nature so small can travel so far. And hey what’s wrong with sentimental?
A screenshot I took.
14:34 Thursday 07/23
Glenn .. is there something not right with Oscar’s tail feathers? Maybe injured ehen defending the nest?
What the hell is going on. ???
Crazy happenings at the nest this afternoon. Birds landing then leaving. Some look to be adults others maybe juveniles. No telling who’s who. At one point it looked like Carson bringing another fish but then he left with it.
Did a nest takeover just occur?? 15:09 an adult landed with a fish in its claw, stood around for about 5 minutes then took off, with the fish. 15:37 two adults landed, been on the nest for over 10 minutes. Oscar seems upset. Are they Rachel and Carson?
One seems more dominant than the other. One was just sitting there with it’s head handing down. Around 15:54, the dominant one flew on top of the other, who put it’s head back down and it’s still sitting there, couple minutes later, with head hanging.
Seen a lot of fish deliveries and guests…so to speak…this afternoon. Definiately one male is not “family”…I think Carson brought an extra fish before Oscar was done…then there was a lot of osprey nest traffic in/out. Interesting behaviours.
Several osprey….
13:05 Oscar eating a fish! Did not see how it arrived, but at least it’s some nourishment…
Carson brought in the scup at 12:39:04
Yay!!! 12:30, nice big fish delivery!! I was starting to get worried!
Didn’t see any fish deliveries yesterday nor yet today
18:30 He has something stuck in his claws and he’s struggling to remove it.
Please correct me if I am wrong but at 18:30 it looks like Oscar is eating one of the dead Osprey, I see feathers…
When do Ospreys on the Cape begin catching their own fish? Once they do an do they bring them back to the nest to eat at first?
Two other nests I’ve been watching, at least one parent is always with the chicks. I wonder why Rachel and Carson are not staying with Oscar. At first I thought maybe it was because they are having a hard time finding food and are having to fly further, but even at night he is by himself. Or is one of them there, just out of sight of the cam???
And no fish delivery yet today.
Fish delivery, 14:56!