Osprey 7.27.2023

Published: July 28, 2023

What’s Captivating These Students?

SRA’s College Intern, Havana, with OMOL’s Clara & Jasmine Tracking Osprey

Osprey Date: 7.27.23 – They’ve spotted two osprey in a platform nest on the Severn River! 

The students are helping survey and chart osprey nests (in trees, platforms, channel markers, on boat houses and even on boats) as part of SRA’s new program, Operation Osprey.  These students are part of the One More One Less Mentoring from Baltimore, led by Minister Brian Bordley. 

The mission of Operation Osprey is to create an annual inventory of Osprey that live in the Severn River Watershed. Step one is to map all osprey nests by GPS coordinates. That’s what these students are doing now. Step 2 starts in Spring 2024 when we’ll recruit volunteers to join our Osprey Navy to create the first full inventory of osprey and their offspring. 

The osprey population will then serve as a bellwether for the health of the Severn River so we can monitor how the osprey respond to rising challenges — stormwater runoff pollution, climate change, development and overfishing. 

Because these sea hawks only eat fish they catch near their nests in the Severn River, their success/failure will serve as a bio-indicator of our river’s health. 

Special thanks to BGE and the Great Schooler Race Foundation for supporting Operation Osprey!

For more information on Operation Osprey, contact Tom Guay with the Severn River Association at: taguay@severnriver.org