A video cam now gives the world a 24-hour view of a family of ospreys nesting in the shadow of the Ninth Street Bridge near Ocean City.
The video stream was reactivated Thursday after the birds covered the solar panel that powers the camera. The camera’s operators were not permitted to remove the material until the osprey hatchlings in the nearby nest grew bigger.
The images are streamed live to the Internet and can be viewed here: Ocean City Osprey Cam.
The cam’s web feed is sponsored by Bay Cats, a catamaran, kayak and stand-up paddleboard shop on the 300 block of Bay Avenue. The shop offers nature tours that start with a live view of the ospreys from the computer and proceed to visit the area of the nest by water.
The cam shows a father bringing fish into the nest, and a mother taking care of three chicks.
Bay Cats owner Jennifer Boyce said she recently upgraded the server for the webcam to eliminate buffering. She said Stone Harbor’s Wetlands Institute uses the feed at its museum and environmental education center.
The solar-powered camera was installed in 2010 on a post near the osprey platform. The signal was transmitted across the bay to a monitor at the Bayside Center (500 block of Bay Avenue) in 2011. With the help of private donors and some support from the city’s technology staff, the live web feed was created last year.
The family will remain in the nest all summer as the chicks learn to fly and catch fish. The ospreys will migrate south in September and return to the same nest in the spring. Ospreys mate for life.
