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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.
At 10:01am we had a visitor of a different raptor feather….😀
Another pic
Tania, great catch! Thanks for posting. I’ll add it to the season highlights.
Great pic…thank you!
On 9/12 there was a single bird in the nest at 07:32, staying until 07:44
Kevin, Was the bird an Osprey???
I think so.
If anyone is in the area and interested, bring the whole family to our third annual Walk for the Wild (WFTW), a 5k walk through nature and trails of the Mashpee National Wildlife Refuge. Our 2024 WFTW will be held on Sunday, October 13th, from 11am to 1pm, with a celebration event at Naukabout Brewery until 4pm. Our route this year will begin at the Quashnet Middle School in Mashpee and traverse a variety of trails through the Quashnet Woodlands, Johns Pond Conservation Area and Makepeace Wildlife Sanctuary. It will end with a family celebration at Naukabout Brewery by Attaquin Park at Mashpee Pond, featuring beverage sales, raffles, kids crafts and more!
To register and for more information:
https://support.americaswildliferefuges.org/event/the-2024-walk-for-the-wild-mashpee/e616040
Difficult to identify if the lone osprey was Juliet, but whoever it was just left the nest.
Lone Osprey is still on the nest. I feel for her or him. No friends
Maybe it’s the angle but I don’t see her necklace. Maybe another osprey?
Juliet is back. 7:35AM
She didn’t seem independent enough to leave but I haven’t seen her much since the owl incident. I hope she is able to make it, wherever she is headed.
I’m sure she is near Racheal in the area and getting fed and hopefully learning how to fish.
Oh wow, Patty, shortly after your comment it appears that Juliet is migrating south 🙁
Juliet has been gone all day.
I have been checking in & have been seeing the empty nest. I am happy to see that Juliet has probably left but it’s with mixed emotions because the family has been so interesting to watch & I will miss them.
Just a comment about a raptors innate protection responses. I just saw a tv news segment about a red tailed hawk that swooped down with talons out on a 2 year old child in her back yard in Needham. The hawk expert (John Blakeman a raptor biologist) said that this hawks actions was a mother’s typical protection defending her territory to send a message and this hawk did live very local to that family. It reminded me of what Rachel (I think) did when the raccoon paid a visit to the Osprey nest (OK, not a child but still same actions), but I am wondering why the owl swooped the nest twice.
I was thinking the same thing that the owl has a nest close by. Years ago I watched a mocking bird in our back yard swoop down an peck our dog in the butt. The bird was more than likely protecting a nest. The dogs response of surprise and shock was hysterical 🤣
It’s making me so sad to see the one last osprey baby, probably Juliet, by herself in the nest alone every night. Will she eventually join the others in the migration? Has it ever happened that an osprey tries to stay through the winter?
What I have noticed over the past couple days is Juliet spending more time away from the nest and less squawking – a hopeful sign.
That was quite a confrontation. I hope Juliet didn’t get hurt.
I know. At one point I wondered if it was a feather or stick flying in the air after one of the owl swoops!
Is there a way to rewind back that far to see this?
Go to Highlights instead of rewinding.
Forgot to say thanks. Got it!
At 09-05-2024 00:32:00 an owl paid a nest visit for 5-10 seconds during which there was brief owl/osprey bird talk. Shortly thereafter at approximately 00:33:29 and 00:34:35 a bird (perhaps the owl) dive bombed the osprey. Not a bad highlight if you can get it.
Great catch, Kevin! I’ve never seen a direct confrontation like that before. I’ll post the clips a little later this morning. Thanks!
Posted. See highlights!
Thanks for the comments and the highlights. We night owls keep an eye out for each other.
Thank you for posting!
Thank you! That was so cool👍
Kevin, nice catch! That was a new sound I heard coming from the Osprey.
Thank you for posting Glen 👍
9/4/2024 18:45 Carson delivered a fish
7:30 9/4 Juliet with a fish dinner. Not sure if she caught it herself or if it was a delivery from Carson.
Where fore art thou Juliet. Here!
Glenn, thank you so much for all your contributions. You add so much to this site!
Several people have commented that it is Juliet who remains on the nest. We assume the youngest is the last fledgling at the nest – last year it was Echo, the year before, Charlie. I contacted Dr. Alan Poole, noted Osprey researcher and author of two books on the subject, and asked whether it is typical for the youngest to remain and “guard” the nest. He responded: “Not sure I have any data to suggest that the latest-hatched chick is most likely to linger at the nest, although it’s a reasonable assumption that it would be the one most in need of food. In any case, the young don’t really “guard” the nest — the nest is simply the place where the young come to find food — delivered by the male parent. More independent, better fed young are less likely to continue coming to the nest for food. In fact some could have already left in migration.” He also noted that “in areas where nests are fairly close together, our research has shown that young sometimes fly to nests that are not their own, and get fed there. Lots of nest fluidity at this time of year.” He also said that it’s a reasonable guess that Juliet is female based on the dark bib, contrary to what I’ve said previously. He’s the expert, not me! So, yes, I’m going with the story that it is Juliet we are seeing, and Hotel and India have either moved to other local nests, or slowly moving South, maybe stopping at other nests for a bite to eat.
https://www.amazon.com/Ospreys-Revival-Alan-F-Poole/dp/142142715X
Thanks for passing along that info Glenn!
There are definitely other osprey still around the nest. You can hear them in the background.
Glen, much appreciated for following up with Dr.Poole and passing on this information.
It is amazing how early Rachel heads south (it seems she’s been gone almost 3-weeks now), yet next year Rachel and Carson both meet up at this nest.
I’ve been watching the chicks circling around Shoestring Bay over the past week. Didn’t see many fishing, rather it seemed that they were “mapping” out the area because, as I recall from the PBS Osprey episode, some of these chicks will return in 2 years time.
Great info! Thanks so much, Glenn.
When will Juliet head south ?
Black sea bass delivery 9:08:30
I checked in this morning just in time to see Carson delivering a nice big fish. He immediately flew off, Juliet carried on as usual but finally settled down to eat.
thanx. hopefully she’ll learn to fish herself soon
so I’ve been checking in every few days and have only seen one osprey (Juliet?) on the nest. have the others already left or has someone seen anyone else join Juliet?
I was wondering the same thing. For the past couple weeks – at least – I have only seen Juliet (which I believe to be a female based on her awesome necklace) there each time I check in, too. Juliet has been squawking up a storm each time as well.
she’s a squawker just like her mom😂
8/28 around 8:20am –One of the ospelets must be fishing now. Came back wet and empty talons.
Very good catch Bob. Definitely wet and water in ear. Probably a tough and long process taking off from submersion first few times so likely a bit waterlogged.
Dad made it look so easy!
Carson? brought breakfast 7:27am. Juliet still squawking
This nest on Tobey Island in Bourne has a red net in it! Would have loved to see the osprey carrying it up.
Apparently we humans are not the only ones that like a little bling, ha ha!
Nancy, thank you for the Big Bear tip. I checked it out and it’s great. It will be wonderful to have them to watch when our Osprey are gone.
James G mentioned how much the nest has fallen apart without maintenance since the chicks have grown up. I put together a before-and-after to show just how much. The fortress on the left is from 4/16. The nest on the right is today
Interesting that you show this comparison. I stopped by the nest Friday and took the attached pic showing a lot of the twigs at the “annex” platform nearest the camera. I am assuming they moved the twigs since there is such a depletion of twigs at the original nest from April!
Maybe the lack of maintenance is beneficial to the success of the chicks. The configuration changing over time to gives the chicks more room as they grow and later on to practice wing flapping and to make for better take offs and landings as they learn to fly. Also the flatter nest might give them a better place to practice feeding themselves.
Thank you for the comparision🌱
I want to share this info before we’re all “empty nesters”.
friendsofbigbearvalley.org has a superb bald Eagle nest cam. There won’t be much activity until January but well worth monitoring. You can access it now for info on last season’s activity. During one severe snow storm Mom Jackie sat on the eggs for 62hrs straight!
Nancy, thank you for sharing link. I was monitoring this last year as well as a Port Lincoln Australia Osprey nest!
Not forgotten 11:38
Wow – Papa Carson makes a cameo. He drops off fish and leaves within seconds. I’m assuming that Rachel has gone for season and this chick will be fed by Carson for another couple weeks(??) until their migration back to SA. But what is so odd is that even after Carson drops off lunch this chick continues to squawk for about 5 minutes before finally quieting down and eating!
Hi! During Charlie 2022 season Glenn mentioned sometimes the last to fledged would take on the task of guarding the nest, so perhaps Juliet has taken this roll as Charlie did. I do think Juliet is a male, much smaller than Rachel & same size as Carson. Just a guess. Haven’t seen Rachel at all…anyone else think Juliet is a male???
14:43 today.. has anyone seen Juliet eating?
Early this morning, the poor bird was squawking as loud as it could and kept it up for over 20 minutes, and maybe longer after I stopped watching.So distraught. Maybe starving for fish. Squawking again now, must be for food.
Early this morning being inbetween 2am to 4am. I did not make note of the time.
I love seeing the one osprey that sleeps at the nest.
During the squabbling the other day, one of the chick had his head down. Very submissive posture. Is there a bully in the group?
fantastic tug of war between siblings over a fish on 8/17/2024 from 18:32:20 to 18:34:20.
find the incident and watch a little before then a little after the times shown. This is really an observation of “life in the wild!”
Thanks Paul – great observation! I posted part the sequence. I’m not sure which chick is which, but I’d guess the one on the right (who took the fish) was either Hotel or India.
Does anyone have a problem with the video constantly freezing/spinning wheel? I have gone through the motions on my iPad, iPhone and apple computer to clear cache to no avail. This has been going on for over a week now.
No problems for me.
Hi! At 12:55, the local crow family came to the nest to scavenge for fish for about ten minutes while the osprey family was away
12:56 today Thursday Aug 15. Three blackbirds in the nest, just hanging out. Two left, one stayed for a bit then flew off with something in its mouth from the nest.
Has anyone noticed any concerning behavior? Do all the chicks seem to be on a good trajectory?
My wife watches constantly and is worried that the chicks may not be getting along with one another.
It’s normal for the chicks to exhibit some agressive behavior towards one another, especially over food. This year’s offspring seems to actually have gotten along better than what we’ve seen in the past. Remember that they are wild animals and must learn to survive and outcompete others for food, nest locations and later, mates. No need for concern!
Thank you for your reassuring response. My wife will still worry.
Thank you for responding 👍
Is that the mom who is constantly on the nest or one of the offspring.
Thanks
While sometimes it seems to be Rachel, I’ve observed mostly that one of the chicks remains on the nest. You can tell the juveniles from the adults by the white tips on their feathers.
Glenn, please check out, I could be wrong. Rachel has a tail feather that is always out of place. I think it was like that last year also. I look for that when I am not sure who is who.
Has anyone observed a chick bringing a fish to the nest or are the parents still providing food?
At this point, the chicks are stil dependent on the parents for food. Over the next few weeks, they will begin to learn to fish on their own, a skill they’ll need before their solo journey south later in September!