The world famous Grand Lake ospreys have been busy so far this spring. Over the past few days, they’ve laid a grand total of three eggs: one on May 8, one on May 10 and one on May 13.

A couple days after the first egg was born live on camera, Kent Roorda, manager of the livestream, informed the world that there was more to come.

“I don’t look at the video of my Osprey(s) that often,” Kent Roorda wrote in an email to Sky-Hi News on the evening of Saturday, May 10 at 6:56 p.m. “However, a moment ago, I looked at Mom and she was showing exactly the same behavior that I observed two days ago when she laid her first egg. I continued to watch, and to my surprise, I watched as she laid her second egg!   

“Thus, the second egg was laid very close to 48 hours after the first egg was laid,” Roorda stated. “Since I have now observed two egg layings, I can describe it to you — when she is getting very close to laying an egg, she will stand up, hold her tail feathers high and stretch out her wings intermittently. It is obvious that she is uncomfortable. She will also stand over any egg(s) that she presently has so that they will all be together. As soon as the new egg is laid, she will settle down on them and resume incubation.”

Two days later, on May 13 at 9:10 p.m., Roorda wrote back again. There was more breaking news reported by Catherine Smith from California.

“Hello osprey watchers,” he stated. “Our watcher … just notified me that there is a third egg. Upon looking at the nest, Mom stood up for a moment and sure enough, there are three eggs. All three eggs were laid almost exactly two days apart from each other and they were all laid around 7 p.m. Mountain Time. Wow!

“Now, will there be any more eggs?” he asked his far-flung audience which includes avid viewers from Russia, Europe, China, Indonesia, Philippines, Ecuador, South Africa, and all over the United States and Canada. “We shall see! Watch the camera closely on Thursday evening. Dad is already bringing fish for Mom to eat and he is also sitting on the eggs when Mom wants to take a break. All is good so far, but remember that the entire osprey family has many challenges ahead of them.”

The following morning on May 14 at 7:52 a.m., Roorda shared some photos of the family in progress.

“Just a moment ago, Dad arrived at the nest to check on Mom and the eggs, and to sit on the eggs for a while as Mom takes a break and gets some exercise,” Roorda stated. ” … After checking Mom and the eggs out, Mom got up and flew away for a while and Dad settled in on the eggs.

“It will now be interesting to see if she lays any more eggs,” Roorda explained. “In all the nine years that this pair have been coming to my nest, they have never laid more than three eggs. Of course, anything can happen!  In past years, they have surprised us with a number of significant things and events. Last year, Mom determined that one of the eggs was not viable and she removed it from the nest.”

When Sky-Hi News checked the livestream on the afternoon of May 14, the mother osprey was silently sitting on her eggs, ever-alert, as large flakes of snow fell upon her.

The next morning around 7 a.m., the mother osprey was sitting quietly in the snow. She began to move around and shake the snow from her feathers. She checked her brood and let out a primal screech. Then, she readjusted her position to keep the eggs warm and dry. She sat back down to scan the white horizon.

To view the livestream, go to SkyHiNews.com/grand-lake-osprey-camera or Osprey-Camera.Click2stream.com.