A familiar pair of ospreys are back at their nest in the shadow of the Ninth Street Bridge near Ocean City, and so is a video cam that gives the world a 24-hour view of the birds.
A male osprey brings a fish back to the nest on Saturday afternoon. The pair can be seen on a live cam available online.
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 seasonal shop last year offered 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 video stream was reactivated for the season this week. The ospreys are expected to produce eggs soon, and last year the cam provided a great view of the pair raising three chicks through the summer.
Bay Cats owner Jennifer Boyce upgraded the server for the webcam last year to eliminate buffering. She said Stone Harbor’s Wetlands Institute used 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 spring 2016. Ospreys mate for life.
