A two-week-old osprey born in a nest streamed live online by the Town of Osoyoos has died after falling out of the nest. (Town of Osoyoos / YouTube)

By Vanessa Broadbent

Osoyoos Times

Osoyoos’ osprey parents are premature empty nesters after the only remaining baby bird fell out of the nest and succumbed to its death on Thursday evening.

Viewers of the camera, placed on top of a de-energized FortisBC pole and streamed live 24-7 by the Town of Osoyoos, watched the two-week-old bird slowly make its way to the edge of the nest, just out of the camera’s view. It fell off sometime late that night.

Dale Belvedere, manager of SORCO Raptor Rehab Centre, said the deceased bird has been brought to the centre for disposal. She’s been watching the family since they arrived in the nest this spring.

Two eggs appeared in the nest in early May, but were kicked out by the osprey only days after they were laid. Then in early July, the first baby osprey passed away less than two days after hatching, likely from dehydration or starvation.

“That’s four babies that they lost,” Belvedere said, adding that the osprey parents behaved oddly all season. “The female was very rarely on the nest, which is not normal. She was ignoring that baby.”

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Belvedere believes the parents’ actions are because they knew there was something wrong with each of the baby birds and eggs, but she’s heard another theory suggesting that the couple was an “immature pair.”

As of this morning, the stream has been discontinued and the Town of Osoyoos issued a statement on its website: “We are just as devastated like all of our viewers but unfortunately this is ‘Mother Nature’ which we cannot control or intervene outcome(s).”

Belvedere would like to see the camera relocated and the nest removed once the osprey leave in the fall.

The nest is three times smaller than other osprey nests and its location is not ideal, she said.

“It’s way too public; there’s so much traffic and humans,” Belvedere said. “Osprey are highly stressed so being where it was, you could see that they were stressing.”

Town of Osoyoos CAO Barry Romanko said the nest and camera provide “excellent education and entertainment viewing” for not only locals, and there are no current plans to move the camera or nest.

“At this point time we are considering this year as an isolate incident and have no plans to remove the nest,” he said.

“In the future, if the location is found to be a poor osprey habitat we will contact the appropriate regulators and seek another location for the nest and the camera.”