Our Osprey Garden
Greetings!
We have been collecting some additional data to send out to our friends at DWR, Center for Conservation Biology, other agencies and researchers.
We have no answers as we are not the experts, but we can collect data in Colonial Beach. We observe by watching behaviors, our nest cam, and seeing with our own eyes the starvation that has plagued our osprey chicks this season. We know what killed these chicks, we just don’t know why. We can surmise, have theories, speculate, but the truth is, we don’t know for sure what has happened here, what we do know is that our ospreys this season have suffered the same fate as the ospreys in the Chesapeake Bay.
I am hoping our data will assist the researchers, biologists, and researchers that are working diligently to find the cause and the solution.
I will share with you that menhaden basically did not come into the Potomac River this year. Waterman, who catch these nutrient rich fish, had to buy their bait this year. Here is data from the Potomac River Fisheries Commission. You will see that the menhaden “catch” is about 15% of what it has been over the past 10 years! That is something to be alarmed about.
Write and Call Menhaden Management Policy Makers:
Jamie Green
(757) 247-2265
Commissioner, Virginia Marine Resources Commission
Atlantic Menhaden Management Board Member with ASMFC.
Mel Bell
(843) 953-9007
Chairman of the Board, Atlantic Menhaden Management Board
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
Travis A. Voyles natural.resources@governor.virginia.gov
(804) 786-0044
Virginia Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources
Advisor to the Governor of Virginia
Caren Merrick glenn.youngkin@governor.virginia.gov
(804) 786-2211
Secretary of Commerce and Trade
Advisor to the Governor of Virginia
Glenn Youngkin glenn.youngkin@governor.virginia.gov
(804) 786-7831
Governor of Virginia
Find Your Delegates and Senators write and call
Please write and call our policy makers, tell them your concerns, you are the voice of our ospreys and you can make a difference! If you need more guidance, please send an email to me at ospreycbva@gmail.com.
SAVE THE DATE
7th Annual Virginia Osprey Festival in Colonial Beach
April 12, 2025
Featuring
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Mark Smith
