The pair of osprey whose lives are open for all to see via a webcam mounted on a nesting pole near Exshaw are parents.
Two chicks out of a clutch of three eggs have hatched, with the first down-covered chick coming out of its egg Saturday (June 15) at 8:03 p.m. The second chick hatched two days later.
FortisAlberta mounted the camera on the pole near Lac des Arcs in the spring and since the stream went live, especially since the eggs were laid in May, interest in the pair has surged.
“So far we’ve had over a million viewer minutes, and since the chicks hatched the number of viewers doubled,” Jennifer Hendricks, manager of environment for Fortis said, adding the average number of people now watching the osprey at any one time is about 60.
“We also got a tweet that the Ontario science centre has 8,000 followers that are watching it too. A lot of our (followers are) right across Canada, but we’ve also got followers in the States, South America and Europe.”
The third egg may not be viable given the amount of time that has passed between since the other two eggs hatched.
Hendricks added Fortis is pleased that viewers can see everything that goes on in the nest, including watching the female feed her two chicks fish.
“We’re pleased by the cross-Canada uptake… that is the point of it, provide an educational opportunity,” she said.
The live osprey webcam video can be found at livestream.com/fortisab
