The Osprey Nation Wants You

A dedicated Osprey fan base is collecting valuable ecological data across Connecticut.

When Milan Bull was a child growing up in Milford, Connecticut, he鈥檇 often accompany his father on fishing trips to the mouth of the Housatonic River. One day when he was 6 years old, he noticed a large white and brown raptor slicing through the air. Never having seen such a 鈥渕agnificent鈥 bird, Bull asked his father what it was. His father glanced up and told him it was an Osprey, a species that would surely go extinct in his lifetime.

Luckily, that prediction never came true: About 50 years later, Osprey are thriving along the East Coast,聽rebounding from an all-time low of eight breeding pairs in Connecticut to hundreds. The comeback is astounding鈥攁 result of tighter regulations on environmental contaminants such as DDT and improved water quality.

There are so many Osprey nowadays that Bull, who is the senior director of science and conservation at The Connecticut 探花精选 Society (an independent organization from the 探花精选 and 探花精选 Connecticut),聽needs reinforcements to keep track of them all. It was his idea to start , a citizen science program that spans Connecticut鈥檚 many rivers, along with its coastal sound. Now in its third聽year, the project has become somewhat of a seasonal attraction for Nutmeggers.

鈥淭he Osprey Nation has become much larger than I expected,鈥 says Bull. 鈥淲e have more than 100 volunteer stewards monitoring 515 nests across the state. Connecticut residents just get really excited about Osprey!鈥

Up until 2014, a sole biologist with the Connecticut State Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) was in charge聽of monitoring . The raptors became so numerous that they ran out of volunteer-made platforms, and started nesting on transmission towers, cell phone towers, statues, cranes, navigation structures, platforms, buoys, and even the ground.

From both a conservation and a human-safety standpoint, it was clear that the population need to be followed more closely. That鈥檚 when Connecticut 探花精选 stepped up to help.

聽鈥淚 told [The Connecticut 探花精选 Society] it was really important to maintain our long-term dataset on Osprey populations from the 1960s,鈥 says Jenny Dickson, supervising wildlife biologist at DEEP. 鈥淭hey jumped at the chance and have been plugging away ever since.鈥

There are two reasons why DEEP is tracking the number of Osprey that nest in the state. One is to learn more about how the species is making its comeback; the second is because the birds are excellent barometers of environmental health. They only eat fish, which means the health of specific populations offers insight on local water quality. The more polluted a water source, the less healthy its fish鈥攁nd the Osprey that prey on them.

鈥淚f we see changes in Osprey populations, we can address whatever鈥檚 affecting them before it becomes a crisis situation,鈥 says Dickson. The extra eyes of Osprey Nation are a huge help, she says.

Being a volunteer takes little commitment; participants are required to聽watch a nest in Connecticut for at least 15 minutes every two weeks. When the Osprey return in early May, stewards use binoculars to check whether their assigned nest is occupied. Over the course of the five-month monitoring season, they keep tabs on nest activities,聽including the number of eggs laid, the number of eggs hatched, and the number of hatchlings that fledge.

Osprey Nation member Dawn Brucale says she鈥檚 so passionate about the program that she spends a few hours every weekend monitoring not one, but seven nests in her hometown of Branford.聽

鈥淏eing a steward is a great opportunity to learn more about the environment and what鈥檚 going on around you in your own community,鈥 says Brucale. 鈥淒oing this work just really fills my soul.鈥