If video is not appearing above, click here to refresh this page. Also try clearing your browser cache, closing and restarting your browser or restarting your device.
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.
He just got a piece of a fish delivery by another bird.
Carson?
8:54 fish delivered
will there be any intervention from our naturalists with Charlie if he doesn’t hunt and stops eating?
I also am eager to hear an answer to this question. Is there a plan in place to address this? Time is getting shorter and shorter for Charlie to be able to leave in September. He/she cannot survive on one meal a day. Will Charlie be totally abandoned?
What happens if Charlie just decides to stay? Can an osprey survive here if it doesn’t migrate south in the winter? He looks pretty content sitting on his nest.
I read an article that stated that yes they can survive the cold temperatures but the lack of available food would be a huge obstacle to survival.
If he won’t leave the Cape, bring him down to northeast Florida and release him. Our ospreys don’t migrate and there’s plenty of food available year round!
Has anyone observed whether Charlie has had a meal since breakfast?
He has not
Didn’t see any. But now someone dropped off a portion of fish. Missed seeing it but he is eating now.
c’mon charlie, there is a big world out there for you to explore. hop off the nest and go exploring.
Sigh. I wish he knew how many of us are rooting for him! I keep hoping he’ll finally decide it’s time to get cracking with the next stage of his life.
Exactly
We need to consult a osprey psychologist!!
Charlie is a very special Osprey to all of us. I feel our connection with him is through our own life experiences, joys & hardships. I truly believe all our hopes & prayers will sweep him into the sky & to dive into the ocean. Charlie is a fighter! A very fortunate Osprey to have all of us thinking of him each & everyday…
The sites say no one teaches Osprey to fish, they innately know how. https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/osprey-chicks-learn-fly-wivsa3/26413/
The fledglings learn by observing their parents fishing for a month or more, so it is true that the parents don’t actually teach them, they just serve as models to copy if the youngsters pay close attention. After that, they’re entirely on their own to apply what they’ve hopefully learned to catching fish themselves. It’s a do-or-die learning experience, so they need to learn well in the short amount of time they have or they won’t survive the migration south. And, yes, I’m sure there’s some innate knowledge in addition that will aid them in becoming successful fishers!
I’ve read Ospreys were reintroduced at various sites with no parents where
they learned to fish by themselves.
im sure modeling their parents behavior is a help,
but their innate knowledge alone worked just fine.
8/12/22, 8:57 a.m. Charlie is still working on his/her substantial fish breakfast.
8/12/22 08:40 AM Charlie is about to finish eating a fish with no other competition in the nest. He definitely didn’t look weak, just hungry! I didn’t see who delivered the fish. Does anybody know if Rachel is fishing either for herself or for the fledglings these days?
8:53 AM It looks like he’s mantling what’s left of the tail end of the fish while screeching at someone who might be threatening to land and take it away?
8:56 AM Threat gone — finishing last of fish.
9:51AM Nice full crop, but he still has the tail to get down the hatch.
10:10 AM I was away from my computer for about 5 minutes and it looks like the tail is gone, presumably swallowed. Long, hard work, but he did a great job tearing that fish apart!
Fish dropped off 1/2 hour ago. He’s eating. Another bird came into the nest while he was eating and he guarded the fish, bird flew right off.
Do any of the other chicks or parents spend time in the nest other than Charlie?
For the past few days, it’s been mostly Charlie alone in the nest. Being younger, this could be the reason and hopefully we’ll see that change soon. Meanwhile, happy to see food is still being provided for him/her.
There was a quick fish drop off at 7:29am. I’m pretty sure it was Rachel but couldn’t get a good look.
8/12/22 at 7:59 a.m. Charlie is devouring his/her breakfast this morning showing good energy!
Can someone roll back the footage this morning to see if he brought that fish to the nest?
If by “he” you mean Charlie, no. One of the adults delivered it to the nest.
Charlie is enjoying a nice meal.
Good size fish. Anyone know if he caught the fish or did Rachel or Carson drop it off.?
In any event he eats and hydrates today
Charlie isn’t ready to catch his own fish yet. He’ll have to spend time flying with Carson to see how it’s done before he tries it himself.
Charlie eating 7:30am, did not see drop off…earlier this morning taking several short fights. Hoping today is the day he goes fishing
Charlie will need to follow Carson around for at least a couple of weeks to watch how it’s done before he’ll start trying to fish for himself.
8/12/22 at 6:32 a.m. Observing Charlie standing at right side of nest. Calling for food, shaking folded wings indicating to me how urgently he/she needs food. Flew off at 6:20 a.m. and returned 7 seconds later. Compared to yesterday Charlie looks to me to be weaker. He/she ate a breakfast meal yesterday but nothing after that. It is now 6:38 a.m.
I watched the peregrine falcons in Rhode Island earlier in the season (thanks to a post I read on this site!). The society posted that the parents may stop providing food to encourage the young to leave the nest. Maybe that is what we are seeing here. Hard to watch but for the greater good???
I don’t know if this helps, but here’s a quick look from a nest in Montana (Dunrovin) at what young ospreys do after they fledge:
“Fledglings spend time practicing and resting near the father’s feeding perch, so they can still be fed by their parents. Two weeks after fledging, they begin to follow him on hunting trips. Four to eight weeks after fledging, they begin hunting on their own. They must be able to take care of themselves for their long, solo flight south.”
Charlie fledged on July 23rd, 3 weeks ago this weekend. So he is a little “behind schedule” according to the above information. I think Carson has probably been trying to wean him away from the nest to get fed. Some fledglings, especially those that were last to hatch in a nest, (including eaglets I’ve watched) are slower to catch on and just need more time. I don’t think Carson will abandon him unless he gets injured and can’t fly. Usually the male adult will stay with the last fledgling as long as it takes.
Great information. Thanks for sharing this, Claire!
Good information Claire👍🏼 Thank you for sharing your excellent research.!
So sad for Charlie. 😢 Hope he will make it.
I’ve seen other osprey and eagle nests (here in Florida) where one of the adults will arrive with a fish, make sure the reluctant fledgling see it, and then flies to a nearby tree with the fish. Eventually the youngster gets the idea that in order to eat, it needs to fly over to where dinner is waiting. I wonder if Carson will try that with Charlie?
This screen capture from 6/11 shows the virtual miracle that a tiny chick everyone (including me) thought wouldn’t make it through the weekend to what we see today, 8/11 — a fledgling, who made it to this point against all odds, and who will hopefully begin his long migratory flight to the south within the next month or so. I can’t help but smile every time I see my favorite chick and think of the amazing effort he has had to put in to simply survive without ever giving up. 🙂
👍🏼 Totally agree Claire. He’s one tough chick!
Even though the Brewster pair fledged on the same days as #1 and #2 here and have been self feeding for weeks, this morning the female was beak to beak feeding one of her juveniles.
looks like charrlie is eating something
Charlie is eating breakfast 😉
Small piece of Fish at 7:53 am 8/11
Possibly Carson delivered.
Rachel delivered about half a fish and Charlie ate it for over an hour! He had taken a few short flights beforehand.
Charlie eating.
Thank you, Glenn. 🙂
7:39 am. There is a large osprey in the nest !!! Charlie appears to be over on left hand side of nest.And has been motionless for awhile now.. I hope I am wrong about this……
Is Hannah out & about the area, maybe she could give us some insight to activity…& curios, how are the chimney osprey family doing
why can’t the audobon intervene and take him
to a sanctuary? to watch him suffer and die is an injustice .
I have been absent for a few days. Sally what’s going on ? Just read your comment above. Very disturbing. Thanks Anita Breslaw
Anita, I suggest you watch the nest cam and decide for yourself how you think he’s doing.
I saw Charlie take a brief outing at midday; was only gone for 43 seconds, I’ve included a pic. We are seeing similar behavior at the osprey nest in our backyard. The older and middle siblings are out practicing flying but the younger only does quick in/out flights. Also saw same pattern at a bald eagle nest this season. Possible theory: the youngest gets the least food as they’re growing up; they associate the nest with food; when the older kids stay away more the youngest latches onto the nest hoping to be the victor of any food that arrives. In some cases even being aggressive when siblings try to return. Eventually they realize mealtime doesn’t work like it used to and they head out into the world.
Fingers crossed that there is truth to this theory and Charlie catches on soon!
I am wondering about Charlie’s talons. Cannot get a good look at them. Maybe not developed as they should be to catch fish?
Good point, a2z, Charlie does not show any obvious signs of distress and that’s important to remember. Also that s/he is a full week younger. I don’t have any science to back this up, but maybe the role of the youngest is to protect the nest – “hold down the fort” so to speak. Let’s see if a fish delivery happens soon. All we can do is hope for the best outcome for them all.
Thanks Glenn!
Did anyone see if Charlie ate today or leave the nest?
I checked the nest at 9:35 am Aug 10 and as soon as I did Charlie flew in to the nest. I have no idea what time he/she had left the nest. I monitored throughout the day today and as of 6:19 pm today I have not seen him leave the nest nor did I see any other osprey in the nest.
Beverly Kane
Thank you Beverly for your update
I saw him leave a couple of times today, but very short trips. S/he never came back with fish. I am so uneducated with regards to these birds, is there anyway possible he flies and fishes at night?
Charlie’s definitely not ready to fish yet. He needs to fly with Carson for a couple of weeks to see how it’s done before he can try it on his own.
Yes it is Charlie
Is this lone osprey able to fly and fish for itself? 2pm 8/10
Is this the one called Charlie?
He can fly but not fish. Has only flown from the nest a few minutes at a time.
So many people have been worrying about the chicks almost since they hatched, but no amount of worrying will help the now fledglings’ life expectancy. The hard truth is that 1 out of every 2 juvenile ospreys won’t survive to adulthood. So instead of constantly worrying about what might or might not happen to them in the future, why not just enjoy what we have for now, the last few weeks before they’re gone? We should feel happy and incredibly fortunate to have been able to watch 3 of Rachel and Carson’s chicks survive to fledge. Like the old song said, “Don’t worry. Be happy!” I know that’s how I’ve felt every day of this remarkable journey!
R U “enjoying what we have for now”, watching this defenseless juvenile starve and dehydrate for the last 36 hours? Why not let the folks here pour their hearts out in peace?
Yes, I’m extremely happy that the little guy managed to survive against all odds — and despite what all of the “hand-wringers” were certain would never happen. I’m also extremely happy that all 3 siblings that hatched in this nest are alive right now, and I’m not planning to waste 5 seconds worrying about whether that good luck will last or not. I live only in the present when I watch wildlife. And as for your wondering why not “let the folks pour their hearts out in peace”? It’s because I find it them to be sad and depressing for the most part and that’s the opposite of what a lot of us want to spend time with! I won’t comment further, so go right ahead and pour your hearts out in peace which you all seem to enjoy so much.
Well said Claire!
Re Charlie being here….on the bright side, we get to still see an Osprey a little while longer.
(.wish we could adopt the little guy.)
He has had such a tough life with those beatings from Alpha and being deprived of adequate feedings, I’m sure his growth was stunted.
He will figure it out one way or another, hopefully…..
The females migrate first, so I assume Rachel will be soon gone, if not already and Carson takes over feeding duties.
https://www.savecoastalwildlife.org/featured-coastal-animal/2018/11/16/osprey-fall-migration
Great article. Thanks Sandy!
will the parents return again with good for him? or the other siblings? is it possible he’ll never hunt ?
I thought watching Charlie get pummeled when he was small was hard to watch, but watching him stay close to the nest not trying to fly and catch fish bothers me more
I was thinking about commenting the same thing; it feels so sad to watch him sitting there alone. My brain knows he’s a wild bird, and that his parents are probably trying to encourage him to get out of the nest and become an adult…but my heart just wants to swaddle and comfort him.
Mine also