LIVE WEBCAM - OSPREYS AT HOG ISLAND

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Location: Hog Island, Bremen, Maine, USA
Source: www.explore.org
Info: Live streaming webcam with ospreys on Hog Island, Maine, United States. The webcam shows the nest of a breeding pair of ospreys and gives a view of their daily lives as they breed, nest and raise their chicks.

More Info: Hog Island is an island covering 330 acres of land located in Muscongus Bay in Bremen. The osprey nest shown is on a platform on top of a 30 foot tower near Hog Island's boathouse. For almost 10 years, the Hog Island osprey cam has followed the dramatic lives of Rachel and Steve. Now a new female osprey called Lady, has taken Rachel's place. The ospreys arrive generally in early April after over-wintering in South America. Egg-laying takes place at the end of the month. After two months of rapid growth, the chicks begin to fly in early August and by early September, they will begin their fall migration travelling solo.

The osprey cam is monitored by volunteers at Hog Island Audubon Camp, and hosted online by Explore.org.

An osprey nest, called an eyrie, is generally built on the top of a large tree or in coastal areas on cliff edges and rocks. Ospreys may also use man- made structures including electricity pylons, chimneys and nesting platforms. Man-made structures are used more regularly in North America than in Europe. Ospreys are site faithful and some nests may have been in use for some 20 years, with the birds adding to the nest each year. The nest is a large structure made of branches and twigs and lined with small twigs, moss, bark and grass. To build a new nest from scratch, it takes an osprey pair 14-21 days to complete.

If ospreys fail to breed successfully, they often start to build a new nest known as a ‘frustration eyrie’, which they may use for nesting the following year.