Birds of a different feather are about to be born together in Baltimore. And bird watchers can witness it live.
Two bird nests — that of an osprey in South Baltimore and a falcon downtown — featured on live web cameras welcomed new tenants this past weekend. Both sets of birds delivered an egg on camera. And sometime in mid-May, those eggs should hatch on camera, too.
A family of ospreys whose nest is in Masonville Cove in South Baltimore laid their first egg, which was caught on the "Osprey Cam," operated by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's Chesapeake Bay Field Office. The agency said the mother hatched the egg between 3 and 5 p.m. Saturday. See video here. The incubation period for an osprey egg is approximately 35 to 42 days.
On Sunday, peregrine falcon parents Barb and Boh laid their first egg on the 33rd-floor ledge of 101 Light St. Officials said the egg will incubate for about 33 days. Boh and Barb revealed a second egg on Tuesday.
Neither bird family is the first to receive on-camera fame in Maryland. The Maryland Transportation Authority has again turned on a traffic camera above a large man-made osprey nest located near the eastern end of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. A view of eastbound Route 50 traffic is blocked by the birds.
And last month, in Southern Pennsylvania, viewers were captivated by two eaglets that hatched on a live webcam.
In South Baltimore, the family of ospreys is part of the Masonville Cove Urban Wildlife Refuge Partnership. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists plan to tag the birds this summer with electronic monitors to track their movements as they migrate south for the winter and return to Baltimore in the spring.
Officials are asking for name suggestions through Wednesday here.
The Maryland Port Administration is funding the Osprey Cam, and the Maryland Environmental Service, National Aquarium, Living Classrooms and Patuxent Research Refuge are also involved in the project.
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