Seaside Osprey Webcam – See Ospreys Raise Chicks in Oregon

The Seaside Osprey Webcam looks straight down into a large stick nest on a tall pole in Broadway Park, Seaside, on the north Oregon coast, close to the west bank of the Neawanna Creek. The Necanicum Watershed Council runs the camera, and from spring to late summer it follows a pair of ospreys as they repair the nest, lay eggs and raise their chicks directly below the lens. Tall conifers surround the nest, with the edge of what looks like a playground at the lower left and a row of houses along a street at the top right. The birds are summer residents, usually arriving in late March or early April and heading south in early September, so from autumn through winter the nest is typically empty while the camera keeps streaming.

About the Seaside Osprey Nest

Broadway Park is a city park at 1300 Broadway, next to the town’s sports complex, and the Seaside Osprey info board places the nest at its northeast corner near the creek. Seaside is a beach town of 7,115 people at the 2020 census, about 7 meters (23 feet) above sea level in Clatsop County, near Astoria. The Neawanna Creek and the Necanicum River both drain into the Necanicum Estuary, a network of freshwater and tidal wetlands where they meet the Pacific, and the creek beside the park gives the birds fishing water close to home.

Ospreys have used this corner of town for well over a decade. They first nested on a light pole on the Broadway Park field and lost it when artificial turf was installed in 2011. A replacement nest went onto the trunk of an 18 meter (60 foot) hemlock donated by a local timber company, but the trunk rotted and a windstorm broke it in two places. In 2013 the nest moved to its present spot, and that same year a partnership between the watershed council and the City of Seaside put a webcam on it. Hurricane-force winds snapped the pole in 2016, and in 2019 the cam made regional news when it recorded losses at the nest.

The Necanicum Watershed Council is a community-based nonprofit doing restoration and conservation education across the Necanicum Basin. Volunteers started it in the 1990s, and it became a 501(c)(3) in 2007. The Seaside Osprey info board keeps a season calendar, a nest history and a log of the other birds that drop in on the empty nest in winter.

Weather and Climate in Seaside

Seaside has a mild, wet marine climate with dry summers and rainy winters. Temperatures usually run from about 3 C (38 F) on winter nights to around 19 C (67 F) on summer afternoons, and the town averages roughly 1,960 millimeters (77 inches) of precipitation a year. November is the wettest month, with about 305 millimeters (12 inches). From late autumn into March the camera typically shows an empty, rain-soaked nest under gray skies, with the conifers around it staying green all winter.

Spring brings the action. The info board’s calendar has the ospreys arriving in late March or early April, eggs in late April or early May, and hatching in late May or early June after an incubation of 36 to 42 days. A clutch holds one to four eggs, with one brood a season, and the first chick can hatch as early as Memorial Day. Summer is the dry stretch, when the chicks grow fast and usually fledge in early August before the family migrates in early September. In early October the nest sits empty, and a few deciduous trees at the right of the frame have started to turn yellow.

Things to Do Near Seaside

Follow Broadway toward the ocean and you reach the Turnaround, where the street ends at the beach and a statue of Lewis and Clark stands in the middle of the loop. From there the Seaside Promenade runs 2.4 kilometers (1.5 miles) along the sand from Avenue U to 12th Avenue. Built in 1920, the paved walkway was dedicated in 1921. The Seaside Aquarium sits on the Prom, with harbor seals, a hands-on discovery center and the skeleton of a 10.7 meter (35 foot) gray whale.

The Lewis and Clark Salt Works marks the spot where men from the expedition boiled seawater for salt through the winter of 1805 to 1806, after setting out from Fort Clatsop on December 28, 1805. The Tillamook Head Trail, part of Lewis and Clark National Historical Park, climbs over the headland south of town for 10.1 kilometers (6.3 miles) each way and tops out at about 380 meters (1,248 feet). For a closer look at the water the ospreys fish, paddlers launch onto the Neawanna at higher tides and glide around the Necanicum Estuary Natural History Park, 183 hectares (451 acres) of tidal flats and submerged land framed by dunes and Sitka spruce forest.

Similar Webcams You Might Like

More osprey nests on the East Coast, and another view of the Oregon coast:

• Barnegat Light Osprey Webcam
• Old Saybrook Osprey Webcam
• Pacific City Webcam

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is the Seaside Osprey Webcam located?

On the osprey nest pole at the northeast corner of Broadway Park in Seaside, Oregon, near the west bank of the Neawanna Creek. Seaside is in Clatsop County on the north Oregon coast, near Astoria.

What can you see on the Seaside Osprey Webcam?

The lens looks down into the stick nest from just above it. In season you can watch the pair bring in sticks, incubate eggs, feed the chicks and, in early August, see the young birds fledge. Conifers, part of a playground and a row of houses fill the background.

Why is the nest on the Seaside osprey cam empty right now?

The ospreys only spend the breeding season in Seaside. They usually leave in early September and return in late March or early April, so the nest is normally empty from autumn through winter. The camera keeps running in the off-season, and other birds sometimes stop by.

When do the ospreys return to Seaside, Oregon?

The Seaside Osprey info board gives late March to early April. The adults mate for life and come back to the same nest each year.

What is the weather like in Seaside, Oregon?

Mild and wet, from about 3 C (38 F) on winter nights to around 19 C (67 F) in summer, with roughly 1,960 millimeters (77 inches) of precipitation a year. Summers are dry, and November is the wettest month.

Who runs the Seaside osprey camera?

The Necanicum Watershed Council streams it on its YouTube channel. The webcam was first added in 2013 through a partnership between the council and the City of Seaside.

Is the Seaside osprey cam edited?

No. The council says the feed is live and not edited for content, so it can show hard moments of wild bird life.

Source: Necanicum Watershed Council