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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.
Was that Rachel and Carson on the nest 7/28 at 2:23 PM. Never saw Carson pushing Rachel around?
Rachel and Carson on nest 6:22PM
Both (still?) there at 8:14 Thursday morning.
https://birdnote.org/podcasts/bring-birds-back/season-7-bring-birds-back-coming-soon
will be a fun experience!
Rachel perched on side if nest at 1:33 pm Monday.
Rachel perched on the nest. 7:00PM
Thank you Sandy. What a beautiful location!
almost ready to fledge in Scotland.
see camera 2
https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam/
Pair rearranging nest.
If you need an osprey baby fix, check out the nest at the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History. Unfortunately, the sound doesn’t work. https://ccmnh.org/attractions/osprey-cam
Thanks Barbara!
I am so sad, no babies to watch this year. Hope Mom and Dad try again next year!
14.06 bird in the nest, but does not look familiar.
Oh how I wish they were banded.
6/27/25 11:25 and 11:39 more third bird interactions.
From the Scottish Trust
https://www.bto.org/get-involved/volunteer/projects/bird-ringing-scheme/about-ringing/why-ring-birds
Interesting. Even Gulls and other water birds are eating them….
https://www.capeandislands.org/in-this-place/2025-06-25/more-birds-are-enjoying-the-cicada-buffet
What I find interesting is Carson’s “attack stance” looking down towards the ground. He has been doing that lately. I wonder what he is seeing. Or is it the cicadas they hear/see and are wondering about those?
6/24/25 04:45 a third bird in the nest. chased out very quickly.
Looks like both mating at 19:45 today!
Carson did it again. At 7:00:31 this morning, he nestled himself in the nest center as though he’s preparing it for eggs. Hmmmmm.
Scotland Nest with 2 large chicks , see Camera 2
https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam/
Scottish chick ringing
Nice!
Wow – I was just looking back at video and at 9:41:18 this morning Carson was working on the center of nest and then he nestled in it as though he was making sure it would be good for Rachel to lay eggs! Hmmmmm! Here is a pic.
I think you’re right…Rachel sitting close by 😊 like any moment now
Thank you! Video with sound 👍
Check out this site in Essex
https://www.earthcam.com/usa/massachusetts/essex/?cam=essex_osprey#google_vignette
if she was to lay more eggs when would that begin?
I believe that would have began last week. Successful mating will produce eggs typically in 10-12 days.
Getting the same error 5:34pm Thu June 19th
no picture with this message: HLS.js error: networkError – fatal: true – manifestParsingError
same here
Thanks for reporting – we’re looking into it.
Rachel asleep on perch. 10PM 6/18
Rachel on perch. Looks so lonely.
one of the birds arrived on the nest with leaves and a stick at 12:14 today 6/17
That’s always a good sign but I’m wondering if it is too late in season for eggs??? There has been mating but not sure if it will materialize into chicks!
Captured Rachel having dinner on her perch. Just now.
from 9:55 to10:45 Carson on nest; Rachel arrives and mating occurs 16:30. Both stay and Carson rearranges nest. 16:34 Rachel leaves. 16:43 both on nest. Rachel leaves then Carson
Nope, someone there at 2:20 am.
Have they abandoned the nest for good?
They are hanging around, but it doesn’t look like they are doing any upkeep.
More mating at 7:58:20 this morning!
I check every day, several times a day for an egg.😥 time marches on
Silly question, I’m sure…nevertheless, how much notice does Rachel have before laying an egg? And, what sort of behavior is exhibited coming up to that event? I’ve been watching since the inception of the Waquoit Osprey cam. Is it reasonable to assume that more nest building would be apparent to accommodate the newly-laid egg?
Thanks.
Well said Mr.Govoni! Our children and grandchildren must be educated!
For those of you that want to watch another local nest here is the link:
Osprey Cam | Cape Cod Museum of Natural History
Thank you for the link!!
Hi Bob, do you know if there are still 3 chick’s at this nest? I saw one being intimidated at a feeding by an older sibling. Since then I have been able to make out only 2.
Glen
I would like to thank you, the Falmouth Osprey Project and Moriarty Tree Service for our live Osprey Cam -Video , education and maintenance off the Osprey Nest at Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve..
Unfortunately this year the chicks did not survive. Myself I had concern of their survival due to the extreme amount of wet and windy days we had this Spring while the eggs were being incubated. It only got worse as a chicks were trying to put on body weight after being hatched and the rain continued. They could not survive these conditions which is expected. I applaud everyone involved for determining that they did not fall to a hole in the nest. The facts are always important.! This is a reality lesson for all of us about nature. The phrase “ survival of the fittest” coined by Herbert Spencer is a phrase from Darwinian evolutionary theory as describing the mechanism of natural selection. Survival of the fittest does not mean the strongest individual survive, it means that in a population, the properties that best fit in a specific environment of that population tend to survive, and this explains how species adapt to their environment. It has nothing to do with physical strength, although in some cases, physical strength can be a fitting property. Weather patterns for the past 15 to 20 years in New England and our country have been changing.
Instead of everyone being silent who like myself enjoy having this osprey camp provided to us it’s time that we all have an adult discussion ( educational) on this year’s nesting instead of being silent. I myself watches with my granddaughter and had to explain to her why the chicks never grew up.🌱
Best Regards
Jim Govoni
No more video?
Mating at 4:58:08 this morning! Still hopeful 🙂