Osprey Live Stream, Stockton, Missouri
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Liberty Utilities Co. and Mid Central Contractors invite you to join us in celebrating the return of osprey to Stockton Lake. Enjoy this brief peek into the lives of this osprey family! But, please be aware, at times, nature can be difficult to watch.
On February 24, 2015, Liberty Utilities Co. moved the osprey nest from one of our transmission towers to this newly built nesting box. The pair had a nest burn in the previous summer after coming in contact with an energized electric line. The fire also did damage to the transmission tower and line, interrupting electric service. This new home for the pair of osprey is meant to be a safe nesting alternative while also increasing service reliability for Liberty Utilities customers. Click here to view photos of the installation of the nesting platform.
Above is a live stream of the nesting box. The box is approximately 4-feet by 4-feet and approximately 70-feet high. Although the power lines are visible in the background, the nesting box is approximately 50 feet away from the power lines. This nest also has night vision provided by infrared light illumination. Birds and humans cannot see infrared light, so the osprey are not bothered at night by the infrared light illumination. The cameras are powered by two solar panels. If there are several days in a row of overcast skies, the camera may run out of battery backup. But, once the sun returns, the camera will be operational again.
Note to viewer: Images presented on this live stream are the property of the Liberty Utilities Co. and may be used for educational and non-commercial purposes. Images may not be sold.
About Ospreys
Osprey are uncommon statewide, most are spring and fall migrants but a few nest here. Ospreys are up to 24 inches long, with a 5- to 6-foot wingspan. They are midway between eagle size and large hawk size.
They eat almost exclusively fish they have caught, including carp, catfish, perch, shad and suckers. Also called “fish hawks” or “fish eagles,” osprey usually fly back and forth over—and 50 to 200 feet above—the water while searching for fish. When an osprey spies a fish, it hovers a moment before diving and plunging into the water feet first. Often it will completely submerge except for the wings.
Osprey reach maturity at age 3 or 4 and usually nest near water on a tall structure, such as a tree or rocky bluff. Like bald eagles, they generally mate for life. Nests are built of sticks and miscellaneous other materials. Two to four eggs are produced and hatch in about 5 weeks. The chicks fledge after about 9 weeks. Both parents care for the young. Osprey live about 7-10 years but have been known to live for 25.
(Source: Missouri Department of Conservation)
For more information about osprey, visit the Missouri Department of Conservation website here.
Comments 1,941
I just saw a third Osprey. It landed on the nest and was immediately chased away. Has anybody else seen it? Don’t know if it was male or female.
Mom on the eggs, dad on the perch. It is so windy that when dad decided to take off all he had
to do was lift his wings and the wind propelled him……
Poor mom having to put up with more rain and wind. I hate to see her go through rain, wind and storms. Hopefully the weather will be better tomorrow and over the weekend for her.
Poor Mom. Getting battered with rain and wind again.
Everyone I’ll zoom the camera down sometime in the next week to get a better view of the eggs. We lose quite a bit of background but I think it’s worth it to have a better view of the eggs.
Thanks for information. Amazing how concerned we get!
I’ve looked at nest several times today. I have never seen Dad. Has anyone seen him?
He just now flew in with a fish….
Next Tuesday will be 5 weeks since the first egg. Maybe we will see a little hatching action next week.
I see that it is raining a little bit right now on our osprey mom. I hope that there are no bad storms in the area where she is that would be a threat to her and the eggs. Keeping my fingers crossed for mom to not get poured on with rain tonight! Stay safe mama osprey!
Yes, it’s up and was a blown fuse on the solar array. There is a temporary fix in place but we should have it 100% later this morning. Battery life at night may not be great for a few days until the sun gets everything fully charged.
It’s wonderful to be able to see the Ospreys here again because I was really missing this cam! Thank you for fixing it so we can continue to watch it and keep an eye on our little family!!
Thank you, Mike! Beautiful picture now.
Thank you so much!! I am wondering how the birds reacted with the repair team there?
Actually she took it pretty well. Fortunately we only had to get to our Power Supply, which is only about 35 ft up on the pole. After they were able to get it going I watched while the guys finished up and ran the trucks Momma just hunkered down and didn’t move a whole lot. She stood up and looked around a little bit and the guys said she flew off for just a couple minutes when we first arrived. But came back and didn’t leave again, I think she thought they were just big birds…..hahah. We did make every effort to minimize talking and truck noise so I think that helped. Anyway glad it went well.
Thanks Mike. We will get to see them hatch now!
I checked at 9:08 am. Camera working. Mom on nest. Thank you!
FYI, I have a team headed over this morning should be arriving shortly depending on what challenges they have getting into the area. Keep your fingers crossed that we have the right stuff to fix it and it’s not a total disaster. Hopefully we can see birds later today.
Way to Goooooo!!! I will keep my fingers crossed for the team. It will be good to see the Osprey family again.
YAY!! I have been busy and didn’t check till now! So happy to be able to view this beautiful osprey family again! Thanks to all who make it happen!
Just a quick update I’m hoping we can get over to the nest tomorrow or Wednesday Morning before the Rain comes in Wednesday Night.
No guarantees, but we will try.
Thanks,
Thank you Mike! We appreciate any effort to fix whatever is wrong. =)
Add me to the list of appreciation for all you’ve done to let us enjoy the wonders of the ospreys.
I would like to add my “thank you” for keeping up with the Osprey cam & keeping us all informed.
We will be patient. And thank you for all you do. Maybe Mama and nest can dry out too.
Okay, well we are going to have to make a trip over to see if we can figure out the problem. The road into the area is on a slippery hillside so we’ll have to wait and dry out a bit. I promise we will get over there and assess the situation asap!
Check in here for Updates.
Thanks,
Hi Mike was wondering if you made it over to check the camera? Was wondering when it will be up? And or do you have any information on what has taken place with the Osprey? Thank you 🙂
Okay, Well I was expecting it to come back on and stay on today, if we get plenty of sunshine. If it doesn’t come back on we will try to make a trip over to see if we can determine the problem without disturbing the birds. This may be easier said than done as most of you know this is a very remote area and the rain has of course complicated the issue, plus we cannot disturb the birds too much for fear they will stay to long away from the nest. All I can say is let’s see what happens today and then we will go from that point.
Thank you, Mike, for all you do so that we can enjoy watching this Osprey family and thank you for always keeping us updated! It is much appreciated and is certainly a privilege to watch this Osprey family!!
hi guys, been trying to keep up here with this loving activity only the cam appears to of crashed today, can any body let me know if its the same in their location that way i’ll know if its just my end or a nation wide thing, thanks guys, missing this though 🙁
Mom hunkered down again under the deluge. She is a trooper.
Mom was okay this morning. Camera has been out in afternoon.
oops, my patents should be parents-sorry
Thanks to all who made this wonderful experience possible. Some excitement coming when the eggs hatch. Good patents toughing out the weather. sure love watching, so again, thanks for all the hard work.
Just a heads up to everyone!
With all this gloomy weather don’t be surprised if the cameras shut down over the weekend at some point. With Minimal Sunlight comes minimal charging which results in periods of short battery life. There is usually enough sun during the day even with rains to carry it through daytime hours, however I do expect it have some outages over the weekend. Maybe I will be wrong……..but I doubt it.
Anyway continue to enjoy and if it’s not up when you look at it just check back a little later.
Thank you for all you do, Mike Gordon, we so enjoy this cam!!
Mom is holding down the fort…..bless her heart….
On another cam I have seen the mom covered in snow to protect those eggs
and come out just fine….
I find myself checking nest frequently during stormy weather to make certain Mom & soon to be babies
are ok
Over 150 Comments and Not one valid Osprey Lover Among them. I hate Web Bots. Hope you all are enjoying. Looks like Mom will likely have to deal with rain and gloomy weather for next 3 days. Hope she gets to dry out soon.
Mike Thanks for all you do. Picture is great and it is always great to see Osprey return every year!! Hopefully they have a safe weekend and survive the weather. Thanks again!!
Hope Mom & eggs go thru terrible storm safe. Don’t know if wind was moving nest or camera.
Good Momma…she just sort of hunkers down and takes it. Hope that is rain and not hail pouring down. ?
I was so worried about the nest going through the storm but it looks like Mom weathered it ok. I wish the nests were not so exposed to the elements but I do understand the reasoning behind it! This is a great osprey pair! I hope the next few days don’t result in terrible storms for this beautiful mom and dad. Keeping my fingers crossed for them.
Good shot of 4 eggs again at 7:00 pm
Mom stood up adjusting FOUR eggs. 8:35 pm
My cam has been off this evening….only buffering….
….maybe something to do with all of the rain……?
That is a shame about the spammers…I didn’t know we had that problem here.
Thank you for all you do!!!
I do wish there was a way to make the comment site more secure so we
could share more openly with each other….
……our locations, Osprey/bird interests, etc….
4 eggs for sure!
Thank you Mike for your explanation. My earlier ones had gone thru then suddenly didn’t
I have egg dates as Apr 11, 14, 18 & 19. ???? Patiently awaiting hatching as we did last year!
My comments weren’t being posted either. Stated “awaiting moderation”. I didn’t have a clue what
That meant. I’ll find out if this one goes thru
REMINDER: Incubation Period is about 5-6 Weeks or 35-42 Days Give or Take. I have the first Egg laid this year on April 11th, so we should be going on egg watch around May 16th. At that time I will see about zooming the camera down to the nest to give everyone a better view.
Sorry about the delays in releasing the Blog Comments. If it says “Awaiting Moderation” it mean I haven’t approved the email address that you are sending your comments from on the site. I’ve been tied up on other things for several weeks that there were nearly 2000 posts that you don’t want to see in that only about 15 or 20 maybe were valid local bloggers that care about the Osprey here.
So in short, I have vetted all the spam and if your still not seeing your comments post, please be patient and I will get to it as soon as I possibly can squeeze it in.
Thank you in advance for your patience.
Thank you and so sorry the spammers found us. Lots of extra work for you.
Do these parents have names? I never heard them referred to by name last year.
I think Mom and Dad is what we’ve been using.
Last year they raised 4 chicks–amazing!
Does anyone know what statement on my messages mean
“Awaiting moderation”
Looks like 4 eggs now!!! WOW!!!
Really??? Woo-Hoo!!!
Mom sound asleep on nest. Two boats cruising the lake with lights on.
Why aren’t my comments being posted?
I have eggs on Apr 11, 14, & 18. Has anyone else noted days. Of course, they could have been evening before.
EGGS on Apr 11, 14, 18. Could be night before I guess. Has anyone been keeping track of dates to verify mine?
Three Eggs this morning!!!
I thought maybe she was acting like she was working on one last night…..
I saw 3 on the afternoon of the 16th, but my comment never got posted.
I’m so excited there are 3 eggs. They are the best parents and such wonderful providers for their babies!!
3 eggs this morning
Who brought up the small log? Mighty Ospreys!
7:40 am. Dad just brought Mom breakfast. She got up and there are 3 eggs in the nest. She took the fish and flew off. Dad is sitting on the nest now.
We have three eggs this morning.
I saw 3 eggs this evening.
Mom on nest turning eggs. Dad flies in with big fish. Mom takes fish and flies off. Dad now sitting on eggs.
Last year they had 4 babies, right? I wonder if they will have more than the 2 eggs currently!!
Yes, they had four offspring last year. If I remember correctly, there was quite a bit of difference in the ages of the oldest and the youngest so maybe there will be more eggs this year.