WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (AP)- The Virginia Institute of Marine Science has set up a camera so that the public can view a nesting osprey family online.
The real-time video feed comes from a nest atop a 65-foot water tower on the VIMS campus in Gloucester Point.
The nest site has been occupied every breeding season for several decades. That season usually runs from March through July.
Researchers are interested in ospreys because they live almost exclusively by eating live fish, such as croaker, menhaden and white perch. That helps researchers understand the health of the ecosystem.
The nesting site the camera is set up on gives ospreys easy access to nearby fishing grounds on the York River, a major tributary of Chesapeake Bay.
The osprey nest can be viewed at www.vims.edu/osprey.
