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Moraine State Park turns on ‘osprey cam’ for 2025 season

A screenshot of Moraine State Park's “osprey cam” as seen on Sunday, March 31, 2025. Submitted photo

Moraine State Park is continuing a popular online tradition this year with the annual “osprey cam,” a livestream of the osprey nesting season. The stream — maintained by the nonprofit Moraine Preservation Fund and PixCams — was reactivated on March 28, six days after the ospreys arrived at the nest.

Each year, the camera for the stream is pointed at the same spot at Moraine State Park, 40 feet above the ground, where the male and female osprey set up their nest for the year out of sticks and other material.

“Several sticks have already been brought to the nest by both mom and dad as they gear up for their nesting season,” wrote the Moraine Preservation Fund. “It is fascinating to watch them bring in nesting material and move it around just right for Mom to lay eggs in.”

Loyal viewers of the “osprey cam” should expect eggs to appear around mid-April. The stream typically lasts until late August or early September, when the birds migrate south for the winter.

While the male is typically the first one to arrive at the park, this year the female beat him to the park by three days, arriving on March 19.

The park is hoping to avoid a repeat of what has happened on the osprey cam over the last two years.

On the night of May 14, 2024 — two months after the camera was turned on for the season — an owl attacked the female osprey while it was in its nest. Only one out of the three eggs in the nest was intact enough to hatch a chick. The chick only lived for three months before falling and being devoured by an unknown predator.

In July 2023, another owl attack led to the loss of all three chicks that had recently been hatched.

The osprey cam stream is available on the PixCams channel and features a live chat.

A male osprey holds dominion over the North Shore of Moraine State Park while being livestreamed by the (not pictured) “osprey cam.” Submitted photo
A female osprey takes off from her nest at the North Shore of Moraine State Park while being livestreamed by the (not pictured) “osprey cam.” Submitted photo
Osprey landing: One of the ospreys at Moraine State Park lands in a nest in front of the park’s osprey cam.
Osprey landing: One of the ospreys at Moraine State Park lands in a nest in front of the park’s osprey cam.
An osprey takes off from its nest in Moraine State Park in front of the park’s osprey cam.

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