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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.
Glenn .. see 12:38am, Rachel letting chick sleep with head out, can the camera show a little more of the nest, maybe less sky?
That was cute, but hard to see in the dark – great observation! See my response to A Costa about tilt. I can pan back out to see the bottom of the nest, but I think where it’s at now is a good tradeoff.
I agree with A Costa, seeing more of the nest and platform was interesting 🙂 I understand why you changed it. Thank you for the reply
I zoomed back out a little, so hopefully it’s a nice happy medium!
Baby 4 didn’t get much if any.
Very delicate dinner for three babies!
You did not see the fourth??
not the best picture, but you can see all 4 chicks
at 19:16:50 if someone can grab video for highlights
Thanks Annie! I just uploaded a slightly earlier clip of a fish being delivered to the 4 waiting chicks. Great view of all four!
The 4 chicks.
I wish someone had posted screenshots of the 4 chicks.🤔
4:20p June 1 😀 and now there are 4, little Golf.
great shot of all 4 with rachel feeding them at 4:18
it’s so hard to tell with their wiggly bodies, but definitely saw broken egg. in fact, rachel put her claw in it-ha ha.
I think the last egg is hatching now!
It’s a full nest! There’s a good shot at 15:38.
another feeding at 10:50 looks like last egg hasn’t hatched yet, but hard to see as one of the little ones is sitting on it
10:06 Feeding Time! Little Foxtrot is pushing himself right up front for food! He’s not shy! 🙂
One of the babies keeps attacking the other 2 will they be okay
Oh Delta!!! Come On Foxtrot you too can be like our Charlie and learn to overcome big bird’s pushy ways! I know we can’t put our human feelings onto nature’s creatures, but we all witnessed Alpha’s meanness last summer toward our little Charlie!! And He did survive and thrive!! I wonder where he is now?
8:55:45 – The bigger chick is already pecking at the others – starting so soon! It’s amazing how fast they grow and how much they have grown in just a few days when compared to the smallest.
Delta, Echo & Foxtrot served breakfast 6am
Thanks Dena! I added that clip to the highlights.
Thank you! So much activity while you were away. Great to have you back…going to be an exciting Osprey summer!
3 little cuties having their brkfst.
Its amazing how they can actually locate and catch fish in this much fog.
Glenn,
Sorry to be a bother, but I’m not sure if my question in the “basement” was overlooked. I was curious about the camera’s capabilities – I even went to FAQ on this site and read “Questions about the nest and the nest camera” in the hope of finding the answer to my question.
Is the camera a PTZ (Pan, Tilt, and Zoom) ?
Thank you.
Hi, sorry for not responding. No, the camera has a fixed lens with only an optical zoom; it is not a PTZ (pan-tilt-zoom) model. Maybe in the future we’ll be able to upgrade.
…but I zoomed in a little. Any more and we’ll lose the bottom of the nest since it can’t be tilted. Better? Since it’s a digital zoom, it becomes more pixelated as it zooms in.
Just an FYI. If you adjust the camera again, zooming out a hair to see more of the front of the nest would be nice 😊
I meant digital zoom, not optical.
Glenn, can we get back last years camera?
Thank you so much Glenn. If you and/or the viewers prefer; you could reset it back to the original position. I think both views are fine. This is a fantastic cam and I’ll support this organization with a donation.
Looking forward to a successful season.
I would leave it here……better view of the chicks and you can still see the adults fly in and out.
Good job Hap!! The youngest one hatched yesterday around or just before 12:29. I’m sure I could see it still in half of it’s shell. Glenn is correct, chick three can not possibly eat as much as the older two right now. I did see the female go out of her way to feed the youngest earlier today. As Hap said, these are wild birds. They attempt to do what one would think impossible after they fledge and leave here for the winter. They are capable of flying hundreds of miles over open ocean on the way to their wintering grounds. As adults they will try to steal food from each other. We actually should hope that the fourth egg does not hatch so the other three have a good chance to fledge. I watch nests all over the world and this one is one of the most successful. If you want to see how difficult it can be for osprey, look at some past videos that are online from Hog Island Maine.
The little one was stepped on pretty badly this morning by Carson.
Seems like a similar situation as last year – Alpha, Bravo and little Charlie.
3 pm
I’ve been away and haven’t been watching. I see 3 chicks, and 1 is very tiny – I watched for a good 20 minutes both parents are there with a big fish, and they didn’t feed the small one once!
The small one just hatched today, so it probably doesn’t need the same level of nourishment as its older siblings. Even a few days matters at this point.
I think Foxtrot was born yesterday and as occurred last year the older chicks get preference. Last year was an emotional one for all of us cheering on the 3rd born Charlie as he got bullied and usually the last to dine. Please remember these are wild animals doing what they have evolved to do, ensure the fittest of their offspring will survive. We need to be careful in applying human emotions to how wild animals care for their young even though it can be heartbreaking. We have to hope for the best and that the younger siblings like Foxtrot can show resilience.
Right, Hap, it was yesterday. My mistake. Agree with all you said though. Thanks for that perspective!
Oh, I didn’t realize he was just hatched. Keeping my fingers crossed for him. I’m extra emotional right now as we just had a death in the family. Sorry about that and my human emotions! 😉 I fully understand what you are saying, and I get that nature often knows best. Let’s hope he’s a fighter.
Sorry for your loss, Susan. 🙁
Yes Susan,
Sorry for your loss too.
that’s a mighty fine fish you brought to feed the babies, carlson. to me it looks like 3 chicks and one egg, but i could be wrong
Definitely 3 chicks and one egg right now.
I posted this afternoon but my comments are not approved for whatever reason. They were feeding and they only fed the 2 big chicks and not the small one. Very upsetting to me!
Nice fish just brought in at 2:59! All 3 little heads are bobbing – they sure blend in with the nest in the sun right now, too.
Awww….what a good Mamma Rachel is. She is making sure the little one is being fed also 🙂
Calling for food 7:10 am
appears to be 3 chicks and an egg.
Tues 9:41 pm
Is that one of the.little ones poking its head out?
Feeding time. Great view of the infant trio. 5:50 pm
think 4 th egg hatched….
Yes, I see the shell
they were fed a short time ago and I could only see 3 moving and what looked like a whole egg
Glenn,
Is it possible to zoom in every once in a while to be able to view the chicks up close?
Thank you.
Also, if it is possible, maybe post a “close-up” viewing schedule? 😄
Using my phone to view, in the menu for this site, dots upper right corner, is a desktop option. When it is on, I can zoom in much closer. Maybe this will help you.
Thanks. Tried that with my iPhone and had no luck. ☹️
With the iPhone you can see close ups by using your fingers in the center of the photo and widening or tightening your fingers.
Thank you Sandy it worked! Why didn’t I think of that. Lol.
Glad it worked.
I wish the camera took clearer views. It seems to be too pixilated or whatever you call it. Hard to tell the chicks from the eggs until they move
Yes, they camouflage so well.
Agree Annie.
congrats rachel and carson!!
haven’t seen the new one yet
Welcome Foxtrot 😊 I still like Glenn’s choice of names. Using the NATO phonetic alphabet short words keeps this simple and an easy way to count chicks through the years.
Hi Karen, I totally agree with Foxtrot & Golf!…
Nice feeding at 1:05, just the 2 older ones. The newly hatched one is not yet ready to hold its head up, it looks like!
On names, I like how many of the eagle nests incorporate the nest site into it. So maybe WB here for Waquoit Bay. Then since the cam was only put up last year, they would be WB 1, 2 and 3. That would make this year’s group WB4, WB5, and now WB6. That would keep eveyone on track, and make sure whether we are talking about this group or lat year’s.
Spoke too soon…think she is feeding #3 now.
Why isn’t she feeding the one that just hatched?
Yes there are three!!!
Thought I saw a third chick at 12:29 when the female was standing but I’m not sure
# 3 just hatched!!!
Its very nice with only 2. Generally the upsetting behavior starts with 3.
At 10:53 Carson is feeding Rachel a fish. Love this couple.❤❤
still looks like 2 chicks and 2 eggs
Yes, I was wrong about #3. Wishful thinking.
i’m thinking by tomorrow we’ll see #3.
I distinctly saw 3 chicks at about 4:14 pm on 05/30/2023
from the comments, the 3rd chick hatched soon after i posted this. has the 4th chick hatched as well?