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All About Ospreys

A Talk with Speaker Greg Kearns, Senior Park Naturalist
Posted on: February 17, 2024 - 12:23pm
All About Ospreys

February 17, 2024 (Chesapeake Beach, MD)- “All about Ospreys,” a talk with speaker Greg Kearns, Senior Park Naturalist, will take place on February 24 from 9 AM to 12 PM at the Northeast Community Center located at 4075 Gordon Stinnett Ave Chesapeake Beach, MD 20732.

This community event, sponsored by the Town of Chesapeake Beach Green Team, Chesapeake Beach Oyster Cultivation Society (CBOCS), and Calvert County Parks and Recreation (CCPR), is a FREE event filled with education and outreach for all ages. No registration is required - Walk-ins are welcome.

“We are thrilled to have Greg Kearns speak about his vast experience with the beloved Osprey. This will be an exciting morning of fun activities and learning, and we hope you can join us!” stated Melanie Crowder, Town of Chesapeake Beach Green Team. 

The event will start at 9 AM with fun activities with the Osprey Talk from 10-11 AM; stick around after the talk for more activities and community gatherings.

Highlights of the event include:

  • Visits with the Naturalists
  • Exciting wildlife displays 
  • A chance to meet with Lisa Garrett to see her critters from Wetland Overlook Park Nature Center
  • Door prizes and giveaways

Join the Chesapeake Beach Green Team, Chesapeake Beach Oyster Restoration Society (CBOCS), and Calvert County Parks and Recreation (CCPR) to learn about Ospreys, the often-seen and beloved “fish hawk” of local rivers and the Chesapeake Bay. Greg Kearns will discuss 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.

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.

Greg Kearns

 

Pictured above Greg Kearns

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