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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 6:20 am dad shows up with a little breakfast. Mom takes a few bites and finally I see her feeding the two chicks. Last egg still hasn’t hatched
Checked in around 9:20 this evening. Nice view of both chicks! Rachael was moving the remaining egg around too!
Some of us on the interpretive staff at Waquoit Bay thought it would be a little awkward calling Carson “dad” and the little chick “Papa” when teaching lessons. I found that the ICAO code words from 1949 listed “P” as “Polka” which could be a cute name for a little osprey- any thoughts on this?
-Emily
that sounds great to me
Emily, now that you mention it, I completely understand that from a teaching standpoint it does sound a little awkward. Polka works just fine with me!
And Pookie too.
Polka sounds good to me too. Good to have a backup alphabet – thanks, Emily! And if anyone wants to call it Pookie for short, that’s fine too (Thanks, Ann!). For now, we have two babies (Oscar and Polka). As to the third egg… let’s not count our chickens until they hatch.
Oscar and Papa being doted upon by both parents is the best thing about my day! Warm temps, only 2 mouths to feed… hopefully this sets them up for a successful year. Rachel and Carson deserve it.
Will the 3rd egg not hatch?
I think the 3rd is hatching now
Both parents in nest feeding two chicks.
Welcome to the world, Oscar and Papa!
Two hatchlings
Two babies!
Yes! Good view of the two chicks at 7:00.
WOW!! Excellent
At 6:30 am Mr shows up with a fish. Shows it to the Mrs then flies off with it. She needs to get a good divorce attorney. LOL.
If we go with the same naming scheme, this first hatchling is “Oscar,” to be followed by “Papa” and “Quebec.” No cold temps are forecast for their first couple of weeks which is great news. Rachel and Carson deserve some help from Mother Nature for a change!
I love the naming convention started! Oscar, Papa and Quebec – woo hoo! May the force be with them!
Yes, I hope Mother Nature is kind this year!
I see a baby!
There is a hatchling
We have a hatchling! Hoorah!
Dad arrived at 6:15 with a fish for mother and baby
Oh yeah – Rachel chowed down! She was one hungry mama!
That’s an awesome picture!
Yes. The egg closest to the camera has hatched. Congratulations to mom and dad
Awesome!
Great!!!! 👍
I think I see a chick
Awwwwww love it when Carson feeds Rachel! 17:42 5/15/26
Pray no chicks come till Monday, after the upcoming 2 day deluge.
I think shes hearing chirping
Maybe we’ll have a hatch this weekend. Today, 5-14, was day 36 for egg #1
Rachel has got a couple of bad days ahead weather wise. I sure hope those eggs hold off on hatching.
Mr is watching the eggs while Mrs is off finding breakfast and stretching her legs a bit.
When do you think there will be signs of the eggs hatching?
Rachel laid her first egg April 8th and about 35 to 42 days after that will begin a peep watch! So probably sometime this week we could see first egg hatch!
based on prior years incubations, she’s about a week away. maybe 5/19, 5/20?
Happy Mother’s Day Rachel!
She is eating her breakfast- Mr just flew away. You can see the three eggs.
Great photo!
If anyone reads the Boston Globe, check out today’s cartoon by Paul Karasik on page A8. It tells the tale of an osprey platform on Martha’s Vineyard and the resilience of a nesting pair. I wasn’t able to post a link to it, but will try again later.
Glenn, I do not subscribe to Boston Globe and Mashpee Public Library does not provide that periodical online, but if there is a way you can figure out how to post, I would appreciate it!
If you’re on Facebook, search for Paul Karasik and he has the osprey cartoon at the top of his feed. Hope that works for you!
I also posted it on our Facebook page. If you don’t already, please follow the Friends of Mashpee National Wildlife Refuge!
Got it! Thank you. Love the local support and a persevering osprey!
sweet story. reminds me of 2023 when the platform blew over and the rebuilding of Rachel and Carson’s platform
Breakfast delivered and three eggs waiting for a warmer sunny day to hatch
Great photo!
Thank you for this feed…I check them at least once a day to see how they’re doing and hoping that this year is a better year for them and all stays safe.
It’s so nice to see them both in the nest!
Is that a mouse in the nest for a little night snacking?
I think that that is the deepest nest so far. Very protective.
Stay warm Rachael! Warmer days are on the way soon!
Good view of the 3 eggs
The eggs were unattended for a bit. Actually, Rachel was circling around until Carson landed to take his shift. The nest was empty for only about 30 seconds.
The little resident birds are the Chirping alert Security detail.
You can also think of the birds as housekeepers. Sparrows will nest underneath, which helps keep the structure clean and tidy. In return they get protection from predators. They co-exist nicely!
This is the first year I have seen a nest resident. It is a nice addition, but will be interesting to see how the osprey chicks react once they hatch!
Rachel ignores the little bird.
wrong picture and I don’t see a way to delete.
Funny interactions today at lunch. 1306..Carston brings a fish…Naw Rachel prefers a flight..Carston tends the eggs..1315 Rachel returns, takes the fish and leaves for a picnic…1328 Rachel is back…hints to Carton he can leave now…he isn’t fast enough to get the hint..Rachel gently pushes him out burying her head under him and takes over the egg duty..he complies then goes for a flight Was fun to watch
I went thru some of the footage. It was too cute when she gently pushes him out!
At times when the wind is gusting, Rachel looks like a fancy weather vane atop a shaky nest, showing her noisy displeasure when a stranger swoops by. Does anybody know when we can expect a hatch?
Amazing wingspan. Just before switching positions on the eggs today.
Nice Shot and impressive!