WWF’s live osprey camera returns with new interactive features

The World Wildlife Fund’s popular live osprey camera is back online, this time allowing viewers to report nest observations and track sightings on the organisation’s website, Yle reports.

The camera, positioned at Lake Saimaa in Finland, has attracted over 11 million views in the past three years. Ospreys typically winter in Africa between the Sahara and the equator before returning to Finland in early April. Males arrive first to claim territories, with females laying two to three eggs in early May. Chicks hatch after about five weeks.

While ospreys are known for their loyalty to nesting sites, there is no guarantee the birds will return to the same location. “Each spring begins with a small thrill: have the birds survived their thousands-of-kilometre migration and will they return to the nest?” the WWF stated.

The live stream will continue until the chicks fledge and begin their own migration in late September.