Expert to Speak on Ospreys of Cape Cod

The return of the osprey is one of the greatest conservation stories of the last 30 years. In the early 1970s there were as few as 10 nesting pairs of these fish-eating birds of prey in Massachusetts due to the impact of the use of pesticides like DDT, which caused their eggshells to thin and crack. Now, numbers of breeding ospreys in Massachusetts have rebounded strongly since the depths of the pesticide years with levels now approaching those known historically (300+ pairs). Cape Cod has also seen resurgence with over 160 estimated pairs now nesting here and growing! Osprey researcher and Editor of Birds of North America Online, Dr. Alan Poole will highlight these successes in a lecture on Friday, April 17 at 7 p.m. at the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary.

This talk will focus on three subjects: an overview of the osprey breeding cycle, from nest-building to fledging young; limits to reproduction—why and where nesting ospreys do well, and poorly; and the geography of osprey population growth—exploding numbers in recent years on the Cape versus static numbers in the traditional strongholds of Westport and the Vineyard. Dr. Poole will finish with a look at how censusing could be coordinated state-wide to keep tabs on Massachusetts’ ospreys. Currently Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary is developing the Osprey Project, a project to monitor nesting ospreys and their productivity on the mid and lower Cape. Volunteers are needed to assist with osprey observations.

Dr. Alan Poole is the author of the book Ospreys: a Natural and Unnatural History and is currently the editor of Birds North America Online. He is also very active in monitoring the population of ospreys along the Westport River. Cost for the lecture is $3 for Mass Audubon members and $5 for non-members. Registration is requested. For information call the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary at 508-349-2615.

Don’t miss this informative event!

Craig Gibson

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