This past Friday our old friends Maggie and Walker returned to Richmond from their long sojourn south (where exactly, we don’t know; possibly South America). They immediately set to work rebuilding the nest on an old bridge piling in the James River that the RVAOspreyCam has showcased live for the past two nesting seasons.

Their timing was impeccable. Just two weeks earlier the RichmondOutside team was on top of that old bridge stanchion making some fixes to our camera setup, switching out the battery, etc. I’m not sure our osprey friends could have chosen a spot that better showcases what makes Richmond unique. It is simply amazing to stand out there, 40 feet above the river, and take in the James River Park and the city behind it while walkers traverse the nearby T. Tyler Potterfield Memorial Bridge and boaters pass below you on their way to ClassIII/IV rapids.

When I got home that day, I looked back at my notes from last year and found that Maggie laid her first egg on March 16. We look to be on a similar schedule in 2019. You can follow the action at WildStreaming.com, where our our other bird cams are featured. We’ve got a peregrine falcon cam on a nest in Newport News, a camera on the Cooper’s island eagle nest here in Richmond (though no eagles returned this year), and an eagle cam on a nest in Md. across the Potomac River from Quantico. That one is particularly exciting because the female is sitting on three eggs, the first of which should hatch March 7 (tomorrow)!

So, head over to WildStreaming.com to follow all these wonderful raptors in various stages of nesting/egg laying/chick rearing.