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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.
9:46 the sparrow is sneaking twigs for their nest
I saw the sparrow doing the same thing the other day. It did not bother Rachel at all either. I thought it was too cute.
It’s so windy and I wonder how often her mate comes to her with food
Today Sunday Apr 26 at 19:11 Rachael defended her nest and eggs as another Osprey tried to land. Carson arrived right after the bird flew away.
Hmmm could this be Charlie from season 1? An Osprey has tried to fly into the nest in subsequent years
Thought the same thing!
Breakfast in bed! Rachel sits on the eggs while being fed by Carson.
Love those kind of image captures! Thank you for sharing 👍
Practicing for Mother’s Day?
the light at night doesn’t bother them?
The camera uses infrared technology for night viewing. Infrared light is invisible to birds and humans, but the camera can capture the images.
I think it is ultraviolet and they do not see it. Night vision perhaps.
Egg duty shift change. Rachel took off and Carson took his turn
I’ve only seen a posting that says Rachel laid an egg on April 8th. Has there been any more eggs? Are they still fighting off other ospreys? Do other Ospreys try taking over the nest?
They have 3 eggs, laid 4/8, 4/11, 4/14
Thank you!
HAPPY EARTH DAY!!
nest looks perfect
I think they might have tenants again this year. It appears to be a sparrow coming and going from the nest again.
Finally we have a pic of Carson sharing a fish with Rachel.
I love pics like that! Thank you for sharing.
It is a shame. That osprey continues to fly by. Carson keeps returning to protect Racheal, good mate. I am concerned that it is limiting his ability to leave and find food for her.
9:27 the other osprey returned . Aggravating them.
I took a series of pictures of the intruder this morning. Was only able to post one.
9:08 am there is another osprey threatening them . Carson was there to protect it but the other was pretty aggressive.
Way to go Carson! I always wonder if it could be one of their children returning from 2 years prior. To me that would be a natural tendency for them to do that. From what I have learned once the children osprey fledge/migrate south the first year, they will return 2 years later.
Is there another male who pops in now and then to try to mate with Rachel?
I would hope not! Osprey mate for life.
We’ve seen a third osprey fly in, once when the two were there, and once when Rachel was alone. It stood on her back and seemed to be trying to mate! She pretty much said no.
All tucked in for the night. What a good Mama!
rachel has brown markings on her upper chest/lower neck -referred to as a bib. she’s also slightly larger than carson. carson is mostly white on his chest. chances are it will be rachel incubating the eggs-also rachel is pretty vocal
How can you tell who is who, Rachel vs. Carson
Seen something sad this morning house near Menuhant beach. Was taking down a osprey nest from its roof. The ospreys have been on the nest for a while now. They were there last year too. I wish they would have taken care of it last year after the ospreys left, when eggs were in the nest
Not only sad but illegal without a permit under both federal and state law, if the nest has eggs. You can report it to MassWildlife (508-389-6300).
Report them..
Is it normal for her to appear to be “panting”? Her mouth is open and she appears to be breathing thru her mouth.
Yes! Like many animals, ospreys (and other birds) pant to cool off on hot days. It’s a warm day and Rachel doesn’t get much of a break from the hot sun.
Thank you!
do Osprey ever switch places on the nest? I don’t see much food being brought to her. But maybe my timing is off and I just miss it.
Rachel is on the eggs most of the time and Carson supplies her with meals. But occasionally they do switch places and she has a chance to get some well needed exercise and stretch her wings. Hopefully someone can post a screenshot of a fish being brought to the nest.
Carson brought a fish to the nest for Rachel’s breakfast this morning. She left the nest for a while and Carson sat on the eggs, but then returned to eat.
There was a nice fish and transfer of duties at 930 am today. Rachel gladly took off with the fish and Carson reorganized himself as the “sitter”.
The 3 warm eggs are clearly visible at night captured by the infra-red camera. They can be harder to see during the day given their camouflage. Also the nest bowl seems deeper this year and material in the foreground often obscures a clear view. Will there be a 4th?
3rd egg laid at 2:58am, 4/14
No good view of the egg, but I watched her go through the motions.
Good view of 3 eggs at 6:01am
Oh, this is fantastic!
He brought her a fish at 6:40 this morning but flew off with it soon after. Guess she wanted a better breakfast. 😃
I believe I saw 3 eggs
2 eggs visible at 22:11, on 4/13
So excited for this years chicks!
The huge green headline banner on the website makes impossible to view video horizontally.
Tap the full screen icon at the bottom right corner of the video area.
Richard, I agree, this new banner takes up a lot of space on a smaller screen. When I tap the full screen icon in bottom right of video I can’t zoom. I know it’s petty, sorry Glenn.
I wasn’t able to easily reduce the header, but instead removed it entirely from the osprey cam page. It makes it a little more difficult to navigate to other pages, but this should help for now while I explore other options. I appreciate the feedback.
Glenn, thank you! Not sure why the page header was updated but do appreciate your effort.
Happy Ospreys
Definitely 2
04-11-2026 07:21:49
Rachel laid egg #2 at 4:37 this morning.
Yes, I think you’re right. Thanks for posting the time!
You’re welcome.
I saw both of the ospreys at the nest one flew off the other one was looking down towards the crevice in the nest. I think the egg lodged in that crevice. Now both flew off. I hope I’m wrong.
Does it look like 2 eggs???
I wish the cam took clearer pictures. It’s hard to see the egg(s) – they blend so well with the nest.
There’s definitely 2 eggs! I couldn’t tell when it was laid, but this morning we got a clear view of them both.
One egg!
Do we have an egg? Rachel is sitting in middle of nest 6:38 am, 4/9
No video for hours! Nothing works except for comments.
Try watching using Chrome,
Ann, have you tried reloading, exiting browser, restarting device, clearing cache, etc.? All seems fine with the stream.
Is it really Rachel and Carson? Doesn’t look like them Imo
10:06 with a big wind gust, first egg laid!
Yes! I saw it!!! 😀
I just checked out the video! This is a great start.
This is great! I just checked out the video and still always amazed.
Hooray!! Egg #1. Now let’s hope our cold temperatures and rain hold off this year giving the chances for healthier chicks.
First Egg Has Been Laid 4/8/26