It’s easy to see why people love osprey — big golden eyes, a bright white under belly and a five foot wingspan, make these fish-eating raptors easy to spot. It is tough to be anywhere on Connecticut’s shoreline during the summer and not see one!
“They’re just beautiful to watch. It’s just nature up close and personal," said veteran bird watcher Beverly Propen. She is also a volunteer with the Connecticut Audubon Society.
The organization's coastal center is in Milford. The observation deck looks out at a sprawling marsh, where the Housatonic River meets Long Island Sound.
"The one on the top left there now is one of the juveniles, you can see he’s kind of speckled," Propen said, pointing out at a man-made nesting platform. There are four osprey in the nest — three fledgling chicks and one proud parent.
“They will nest on man-made platforms, they’ll nest in trees or on buoys," she said. "But here, they have a good steady supply of fish. They’re usually coming in around mid to late March, and leaving around Labor Day.”
That is what makes coastal Connecticut the ideal summer spot for the osprey. There are plenty of waterways for fishing, and open marsh to raise chicks, out of the way of obstructions.
But this wasn’t always the case. Just a few decades ago, their numbers were decimated by the pesticide DDT in the water supply. It made their eggs shells too thin, and break too early. A ban on the pesticide in 1972 and local efforts to build up nesting platforms allowed their numbers to skyrocket.
“In 1970, Connecticut had an all-time low number of breeding osprey with just eight pairs of birds in the whole state that were detected," Nick Ferrauolo said. He is the coordinator for Osprey Nation, a group of volunteers who document the progress of the state’s osprey nests.
"They’re so energetic and excited. 'Oh we just had chicks hatch or oh they’re on eggs or here’s this great picture.' And we do have a lot of great pictures that come in, so it’s a great way to get a lot of enthusiasm,” he continued.
Ferrauolo said all signs are pointing to another peak year for the osprey, with over 800 nests being watched by 390 volunteers. They will have to wait until the end of the summer to see their success of the nests.
Propen also takes part in the Osprey Nation, collecting data.
"It’s very important, especially now with climate change and habitat loss, that scientists acquire as much data as they can even about the common species," Propen said. "So, I usually enter about the ospreys each week. What I see, when they fledge.”
Even though the osprey comeback is a great success story, climate change and human development present new challenges.
“That’s the challenge of all wildlife science and birds in general," Ferrauolo said. "They can’t talk, so we really have to pay close attention to how it’s changing, what’s staying consistent."
Osprey Nation still needs volunteers to get the most accurate data for this year. There are still over 300 nests that are unaccounted for.
