The Osprey Watch Alliance (OWA) announced recently that ospreys are returning to the lower Chesapeake Bay area and sightings have been made in Gloucester County at John’s Point Landing and at Machicomoco State Park. Mark your calendars for the next OWA meeting scheduled for 1-3 p.m. March 28 at Gloucester Public Library.
The following has been planned for discussion for that meeting:
- Center for Conservation biologist and speaker, Michael Academia, hopes to complete training for the new phone app in time for spring osprey nest observations.
- Organizer Tomoko Hamada and Academia are lining up spring boat trips to visit osprey nest sites that are being monitored in the Gwynn’s Island and Mobjack Bay areas.
Of immediate concern are the number of osprey nest failures during recent years in the Chesapeake Bay. With a diet almost strictly of fish, osprey provide important clues to the current state of fish populations in local ecosystem. Osprey Watch researchers (headed by Academia) seek to go beyond traditional statistical surveys. In this study, the osprey’s fish catching behaviors are captured by using motion-activated cameras. The camera study will reveal the species, sizes, and numbers of fishes the birds are bringing to the nests to provide for their young. The research hopes to provide a link between the fish populations and species availability with osprey nest success rates.
If you live on the waters of Virginia’s tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay with osprey nests nearby, the OWA encourages you to participate in this research study. The camera will be mounted by the researcher at the beginning of the season. The motion activated cameras are at no cost to the property owner. Because the cameras do not provide a live feed, it is necessary to collect them at the end of the breeding season for data analysis in the lab. Email Academia at macademia@wm.edu if you are interested in participating in this new study.
Osprey Watch Alliance’s mission is to sustain and increase a healthy osprey population in the Chesapeake Bay area through citizen science and awareness, education, advocacy and community involvement.
For information regarding the upcoming OWA meeting, email Tomoko Hamada at hamada.tomoko.san@gmail.com or Sherry Rollins at baytchr@msn.com.
