A live video feed streams a view of a nest in Grand Lake, and the ospreys that inhabit it have laid their first egg of the summer. Appropriately, the osprey laid her egg on Mother’s Day. A video watcher named Norm from Florida captured this special moment.

Kent Roorda, who owns and operates the camera, wrote that the birds have laid about three eggs per year in the past, and they come two to three days after one another. There is a week-long egg laying process. It takes around 40 days for the eggs to hatch, and they usually hatch two to three days apart from each other, in the order they were laid.

The mother osprey isn’t by herself during the parenting process. Livestream viewers can look forward to seeing the osprey couple take turns incubating the eggs and feeding each other while they wait for the eggs to hatch, Roorda wrote.

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Before the mother laid her egg, the father brought her plenty to eat as she built up her nest, according to Roorda.

The father was in the nest and present when the Mother’s Day egg was laid, as he has been when all previous eggs have been laid. The father has also been present when each of the eggs have hatched in the past, Roorda wrote. The nest is known as an eyrie or aerie.

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“At times, it may seem as though dad isn’t around very much, but in fact, he is around a lot, and he is a very attentive and helpful father,” Roorda wrote.  

When the dad isn’t fishing to provide for his family, he perches in a tree nearby the aerie for whenever mom needs help.

“She simply calls out to him and tells him what she needs,” Roorda wrote. “If she needs to take a break from sitting on the eggs or from keeping the hatched chicks warm, she calls out to dad, and he takes care of those things for her while she rests and gets exercise.”

Thanks to the parents’ teamwork, the chicks will grow fast. The first chick to hatch can be up to one week older than the last one to hatch, and one week is a significant amount of time in the growth of chicks, Roorda explained. As the chicks hatch and grow, the firstborn will be larger and stronger than their younger siblings.    

“When Mom feeds the chicks, she does not select who gets fed first. Instead, she feels the chicks in the order that the chicks come to her for food,” Roorda wrote. “Therefore, the oldest and largest and strongest chick will usually be fed first.”

But livestream viewers shouldn’t worry. The attentive dad will bring enough fish for the chicks and mom, so the smallest chick should get a good meal as well.

The osprey cam is available on Sky-Hi News’ homepage for viewers to watch the eggs hatch and for the chicks to get ready for flight.