The resident ospreys at the Boulder County Fairgrounds nest site finished laying their eggs for the season, to the delight of osprey camera viewers.
“Oh happy day!” wrote one commenter after the female osprey finished laying her third and final egg on April 21. “Congrats Mom and Dad on egg (no.) 3,” wrote another.
The resident osprey couple returned in late March to the nest monitored by a webcam at 1030 Boston Ave. The first egg appeared on April 12 with two more eggs laid on April 18 and April 21.
According to Jasmine Finks, who monitors comments on the osprey camera webpage, this is a typical time of the year for egg laying. Currently, the eggs are incubating as the osprey pair takes turns protecting the nest.
“Hopefully, there’s some success this year. Three eggs is usually the average clutch size of an osprey so it gives you three chances to have a success,” Finks said.
A successful season for offspring, however, rests on the male osprey’s ability to provide food for the hatchlings, according to Finks.
“Last year there was successful fledges and so hopefully we can do that again this year,” Finks said. “It’s just him providing plenty of fish that way all three of them can eat and there’s no rivals.”
During the 2023 season, the resident couple raised a successful nest with all three chicks fledging.
“I think it’s all excitement,” said Nik Brockman, the web administrator for Boulder County Parks and Open Space, of the attitude of the osprey camera community. “And hopefully we have a second year in a row of eggs hatching and being able to see those baby chicks. It’s such a fun thing and it’s exciting to watch.”
Brockman added that in past years incubation time has stayed fairly consistent around 40 days. He said osprey camera fans can expect eggs to hatch in late May.
“The incubation time is right around 40 days for the osprey eggs. April 12 is when the first egg was laid so we are expecting sometime around May 22,” Brockman said.
The live video feed from the osprey camera is available at bouldercounty.gov/open-space/management/osprey-camera/.
