The uncertainty that surrounded Annie and her 2 banded male suitors prior to Squam's return has been replaced now by the normalcy of Squam returning, and re-bonding with Annie (Photo of Annie and Squam). Nest rebuilding is underway in earnest, as Squam is delivering his usual heavy volume of sticks and other materials to the nest, and the pair is arranging the nest together as they typically do. Last year Annie laid her first egg on April 30; other years it has been as much as a week earlier. It is a bit early for “egg watch” to begin but probably anytime after April 20 a first egg is possible.
A solid majority of last year's nest sites are reoccupied now around the region, but not all. Nest activity reports are flooding in from many volunteer nest monitors and can be viewed by anyone on the Osprey Program Sightings page on Greenbelt's website. April is the month when things unfold and by early May we usually know about almost all the active nests in the region. I will continue to provide general updates in this blog, but I also periodically update the Google Map of Osprey nest sites that can be accessed by anyone from the Osprey Program homepage on Greenbelt's website. I have not done that yet in 2026 but I plan to later this week.