'Rosie,' Richmond Shipyard Celebrity Osprey, Lays 1st Egg Of Season

RICHMOND (CBS SF) -- A famed osprey nested on a historic shipyard crane on the Richmond shoreline has laid the first egg of the season, the Golden Gate Audubon Society announced Wednesday.

The raptor named Rosie laid the egg at 2:37 p.m. Monday in the nest she and her partner Richmond occupy. The event was documented on the society's live video stream of the osprey couple.

Since 2017, the Audubon group has recorded the pair's mating, nesting, and chick-rearing via two video cameras atop a 110-foot World War II-era crane.

Viewers can follow the ospreys online at sfbayospreys.org as they take turns sitting on the nest and fishing. The site has had more than 100,000 viewers since its inception.

Golden Gate Audubon Society executive director Pam Young said, "It's inspiring to see Rosie and Richmond with a new season of eggs and it's also inspiring to see how years of environmental improvements have made the San Francisco Bay a welcoming habitat for ospreys."

Rosie is expected to lay two more eggs in the next several days, according to society spokeswoman Melissa Ramos.

Osprey populations declined in the 1950s and 1960s, partly because of the effect of the pesticide DDT, but began recovering after DDT was banned in 1972.

The maritime crane where Rosie and Richmond have their nest is in Richmond Shipyard 3. The site is part of the Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park, administered by the National Park Service.

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