Lectures on the Shore: Our Disappearing Osprey

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Photo courtesy of Greg Kearns (MCPPC)

Viable Osprey Nests have plunged 90 percent in the past year.

Where Have all the Osprey Gone?

Lectures on the Shore swoops in to the Avalon Theatre in Easton November 4th with Our Disappearing Osprey. Viable Osprey nests have plunged 90 percent his year across the Chesapeake Bay. Join our panel of experts to find out what is disrupting the rhythm of life for these magnificent birds and what that may mean for the health of the Bay itself. Enjoy light hors d’oeuvres, wine and soft drinks 30 minutes prior to the presentation. Tickets are $60 and are available at https://chesapeakeforum.org.

Each spring, the skies above the Chesapeake Bay come alive with the return of ospreys - majestic raptors whose arrival signals the end of winter and the beginning of nesting season. But beneath this familiar seasonal rhythm lies a troubling story: the world‘s largest breeding population of ospreys is showing signs of distress, and their struggle may be telling us something urgent about the health of the Bay itself.

Our panel of experts includes Greg Kearns, a Senior Park Naturalist/Scientist at the Patuxent River Park for over 40 years; David Reed, Executive Director of the Chesapeake Legal Alliance, and, Will Poston, menhaden Forage Campaign Manager. The panel will explore the complex relationship between ospreys and their primary food source Atlantic menhaden - a small nutrient fish who’s declining availability is triggering starvation, reproductive failure, and unprecedented reproductive short falls among nesting pairs of osprey. Salinity levels, warming waters, harvest, pressures, and water quality will also be examined for their contribution to this ecological unraveling.

Lectures on the Shore: Our Disappearing Osprey is Tuesday, Nov. 4th from 6:30 - 8:30 PM In person at Avalon Theatre in Easton. $60. To register, visit http://chesapeakeforum.org.

Chesapeake Forum is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing lifelong learning opportunities for residents of the Eastern shore. It is a part of the YMCA of the Chesapeake. To receive Chesapeake Forum’s newsletter, please send your contact information to info@chesapeakeforum.org.