All About Ospreys with the Green Team
February 24, 2024 (Chesapeake Beach, MD) -
Click Here to see the Press Release from the Bay Net, advertising our Osprey talk!
This event was filled with education and outreach for all ages! There were about 85 attendees and the Green Team considered it a Huge Success. Greg Kearns, Senior Park Naturalist, came to speak about Osprey biology, his banding program with the public, re-introduction efforts, tracking, how this once-imperiled bird became a conservation success story, and how they are doing today. The Osprey is often-seen and considered the beloved "fish hawk" of local rivers and the Chesapeake Bay.
Kearns has been a Senior Park Naturalist for the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (MNCPPC) at the Patuxent River Park in Prince George’s County, MD River, for over 39 years. He is an expert on the wetland ecology of the Chesapeake Bay, a licensed bird bander, and a renowned authority on Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) and the Sora rail (Porzana carolina). During Greg’s career at Patuxent River Park, he has spearheaded an osprey nest platform and banding program spanning a portion of the tidal Patuxent River. Greg and his interns have installed and maintained over 100 osprey nest platforms along 25 miles of river and banded over 5000 adult and juvenile Ospreys. Countless volunteers and staff from DNR and other organizations have experienced Ospreys up close in hand during the summer banding season. With the program being so popular, space fills up in advance. Greg does the technical monitoring work and makes it accessible to the public through unique educational opportunities. Greg was named Conservationist of the Year by the Maryland Dept. of Natural Resources in 2006 for his work on Soras and restoration of the wild rice marshes at Jug Bay, Md. He was awarded the National Wetlands Conservation Award in 2017 by the Environmental Law Institute. This work compliments the wetland restoration, water quality improvement the rice provides for the fish and other organisms, and the Osprey’s role in this important ecosystem.