If video is not appearing above, click here to refresh this page. Also try clearing your browser cache, closing and restarting your browser or restarting your device.
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.
The Great Bay New Hampshire nest had two chicks die this year. One disappered, fell out or was taken. The other dead chick lingered in the nest for days. One chick remains and seems healthy.
What happened to the third Osprey? What will be done next to remove Osprey.
thanks
BJ
I’m not sure that the other two are going to survive. They’re overheated dehydrated and no food. I don’t understand why the parents aren’t bringing fish. I get it. This is nature at its worst, but I don’t understand how they’ll be strong enough to fly
They’ve been eating today.
The young one dying is very sad and tragic but it is nature and nasty remarks are not at all necessary and very unfair to Glen who worked so hard to make the Osprey nest happen.
Please remember how much pleasure and enjoyment we get watching the Cam.
I haven’t seen any nasty remarks. People wonder why no one intervened, that’s all. They intervened to band them, but not to hydrate the little one!
So sad – fly free little one.
I agree with Leslie. Nature takes it’s course but if they could band him, they could taken him out of the nest. Now what?
This is so sad. Fly free now, little one.
I like that thought. The little one is flying free now.
I don’t know if I’ll be able to enjoy this nest for the rest of the season. This is tough.
So very cruel to not have helped him! RIP little one🦅
R I P. LITTLE ONE. Last breath taken at 2:55 pm
R I P. LITTLE ONE. last breath taken at 2:55 pm.
At about 2:15 the little one was begging for help. I was hoping he would push the bigger one off the edge
So sad, had hopes this morning for the little one.
The little one isn’t “laying low” – he’s dead. He’s been dying for days on no one rescued him. He was left to suffer needlessly. People were there to make sure he got tagged, but no one cared to either grab him up and help him – or at least euthanize him. And so now what…is he to bake in the sun? Will everyone watch as his siblings make a meal of his remains. What’s wrong with you people!!! I watch the nest in Gloucester…The caring Greenbelt folks there rushed in last year to remove plastic and netting the blew into the nest and was strangling one of the chicks. I will never watch this Mashpee site again. Shame on you!
I agree. Someone could have helped the little one before it got this far. He was up earlier (I’ve been watching all day) but now he really looks rough😢💔
Whomever is responsible for tending this particular nest should be reported to the MSPCA. Absolute neglect and undo animal cruelty.
No one is “responsible” for the tending of this wild osprey nest. They are not inhabitants of a rescue or rehabilitation center. “Neglect” and “undo animal cruelty” only comes from being owners of an animal.
Oh…. poor little one. Hopefully it is no longer suffering. I know it’s nature taking its course but still horribly sad to watch. : (
It looks as tho the youngest may not have survived. Has been laying still with wings splayed open since 2:55. I don’t see any breathing. This is so sad to see. I hope someone notices soon.
The little one doesn’t look very well. Can’t seem to stand up.
Didn’t make it, poor thing.
Nice to see little one (Quebec) up. Has there been a fish delivery today? I have been on and off all day and have not seen one.
There was a fish delivery around 8:20 this morning. The little one never got up to get any. The oldest chick had control of the fish
Maybe get Quebec to Wild Care in Orleans if things don’t improve?
Rachael and Carson are weaning the chicks. Time for them to develop the skill of flight to follow their parents to learn to fish on their own. There is always hope for Quebec. I think of Charlie from year #1. Nature is about survival of the fittest. I think he knows to lay low so his/her siblings leave him alone. Quebec pooped a while ago. A good thing I imagine.
Susan, Here is 11:00 time. All three up
And about. The little one seems to know when to lay low. As soon as the biggest one takes flight Things will get better. The biggest is such a bully. I hope he knows “ what comes around goes around “.
Thanks for the pic. I’ve just been concerned after the last few days of heat and very little nourishment that the little one was giving up. I really hope I’m wrong.
Looks to me that the little one is now deceased💔
It’s 6am Monday and little one doesn’t look like he is alive. I’ve been checking in every so often and am heartbroken to see this. I also haven’t seen any parents around. wth is going on??
I’ve been watching closely all morning, hasn’t even picked his head up. At one point Rachael stepped on his wing but there was barely any reaction😢 help please!
The little one is barely breathing.
It appears that the one bird (the smallest one?) is dying? From reading past comments, it appears that bird is not being fed, and no food means no water)? If it’s dying/struggling….why is no one removing it from the nest/rescuing it? Poor thing! And “LET NATURE TAKE ITS COURSE” does NOT fly because “they” interfered plenty to remove and tag all three birds. If nothing can be done for this bird, REMOVE IT AND PUT IT OUT OF ITS MISERY!
Wild Care might take it.
I agree with you.
Leaving and watching a bird being killed / starved is unconscionable.
Let’s hope Oscar fledges soon. Then Quebec will have a better chance for more fish.
This would be tragic if the little one does not survive after all it has gone thru to this point. So close to fledging. C’mon little one!
Little one hasn’t eaten in a couple days and oldest continues to bully him and prevent him from eating. Probably will only last a couple more days without food.
I guess rescueing a dying bird doesnt happen here.
Has anyone seen the youngest chick eating over the last few days? I have not seen the chick eat at all. This morning (8:30) the chick barely moved.
He was attacked by the biggest chick a short time ago. The big chick was picking the tiny one right up as he pecked at it. The little one is still breathing, but doesn’t look very good.
i have not, the little one was in that same position, not moving late last night. doesn’t look good.
It was moving around a bit this morning and was making hurt sounds when being attacked.
At 8;15 this morning the little one was moving around. I think he is fine. Just keeping he head down to protect
Himself.
My question is to Glenn, why is the one adult bird? Not sure if it’s the female or male. Just sitting there and not going and getting food. Just watching them. Doesn’t look like they’ll survive the night
It’s usually Rachel at the nest with the chicks. In the heat we’ve had the past few days, they are all conserving energy by staying fairly still in the nest. The oldest will probably fledge this week, but it will still be some time before they can hunt on their own. To those who say they are not thriving, I would argue the opposite. Just look at their size – they are all growing nicely and there’s no reason to think this won’t continue. It is typically the male who does most of the hunting and Carson is doing his job. He provides what they need, no more, no less.
Wish a wildlife preserve could rescue the little one.
How are they going to learn to fly when they’re weak from the Sun and no fish? It’s hard to watch mother nature can be a challenge and I don’t understand why both adult birds are not there together on helping on fishing
Friday morning I did a quick rewind thru the night hours. I was surprised to see Rachel feeding the two older ones at 1 a.m. Let’s hope they are getting more fish than we are aware of.
I will be glad for cooler temperatures tomorrow. These birds need a break!!
I see only 2 chicks…has one of them flown the coop?
Oh yeah – now I see the third chick!
It looks like they are banded on both legs. What’s the reason for that ?
Good observation Joselyn. The metal band on their right legs is a Federal band, and is designed to only be readable on birds that are captured or found injured or deceased. The left leg has a yellow PVC auxiliary band, which can be read through binoculars or a camera. The next time we have someone up on the nest, we’ll aim the webcam down a little so we can zoom in more without cutting off the bottom of the nest.
Little one is not thriving due to lack of feeding.
Is it common at this time of the breeding season to have what appears to be a smaller amount of fish brought back to the nest for feeding. The hatchlings seem to use up a lot of energy calling for food. I have not viewed any other sites and wonder if the same is viewed at this time of season when the birds are ready to fledge?
Ty
If I noticed that the babies have been left alone for part of the day and no fish, it looks like baby Carson came in around 6:30 with no fish.
Still 3 in the nest. I think one was hard to see. Behind one of the others.
Wow!!!!! Now there are two!