Boulder County Fairgrounds ospreys joined by 3 chicks

LONGMONT» In what has become a delightful local rite of spring, nesting ospreys at the Boulder County Fairgrounds have welcomed their first hatched chicks of the season, with two emerging from their shells Thursday, little more than five hours apart.

Those with a passion for the avian world and time on their hands — and from the long stream of comments populating the Boulder County Parks and Open Space web page devoted to the birds, there are many — could watch via live streaming video as the adults served the chicks freshly caught fish, beak to beak on Friday morning.

The show is certainly being appreciated by those who have tuned in, with commentary veering back and forth between the feathered family and the technology that enables anyone who desires a bird’s-eye view of the nest to enjoy it.

At one point Friday morning, 160 people were watching the show. According to Nik Brockman, web administrator for Boulder County Parks and Open Space, in the past week the page featuring the osprey cams had been viewed about 13,000 times.

One more intact egg could be seen Friday in the nest. Comments in the ongoing public chat about the saga included offerings such as this, from an observer with the handle Fool4feathers: “I hope chick #3 comes into this world soon. With 2 older siblings they will pick on him/her!”

Based on the typical 40day interval between egg laying and hatching that wildlife biologists have observed at the nest, the third chick was expected to hatch Sunday. It appeared on Saturday, however, that the third chick had joined the family.