One of the parents leans over to feed the first hatchling.

Yesterday morning, viewers at the RVAOspreyCam were treated to an amazing moment. At 7:45 a.m., the mother osprey stood up and walked to the edge of the nest. The day before that act would have revealed three eggs. Yesterday, we saw two eggs and a tiny chick. It was a beautiful sight.

Throughout the day we watched as the mother and father periodically brought half eaten shad to the nest and fed the hatchling, while still sitting on it and it’s yet-to-be-born siblings. Those other two eggs shouldn’t be far behind in their hatching. The second chick could break out any moment.

And as if all that excitement wasn’t enough, today the Times-Dispatch featured the story of the cam on the front page. Great photos by Dean Hoffmeyer and story by Colleen Curran on A1!

It’s been a heady 36 hours in osprey cam land, but we’re just getting started. In addition to the two other imminent hatchings, we’ll be announcing a naming contest for the parents very soon. We figured it was a good idea to name the parents, instead of the babies, because osprey pairs stay together (often for life) and return to the same nest year after year. So we’ll get to know these two, whereas the soon-to-be fledglings will eventually have to find mates and territory of their own.

Stay tuned for that. In the meantime, click here for more osprey baby action.