Tracking statewide wildlife population trends such as Osprey is important, but the last time Osprey numbers were tabulated statewide was 2015 when an estimated 560 pairs nested in Massachusetts.
Greenbelt’s Director of Land Stewardship Dave Rimmer initiated a meeting this winter to address this concern, discuss important issues and plan to gather this data annually.
“Just as Greenbelt does in Essex County, many groups are monitoring Osprey populations around the state and dealing with challenging management issues, but no one was bringing everyone together to share this information. I thought Greenbelt could be a catalyst,” says Rimmer.
And we were.
On March 7, Greenbelt and the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife hosted a group of 15 Osprey specialists from the North Shore, Boston area, South Shore, Cape Cod, Martha Vineyard, the Southeast coast and inland area at the MassWildlife headquarters in Westborough.
It was a stimulating meeting full of meaningful discussions. The data collected indicated that in 2018 about 1,000 pairs of Osprey were nesting in Massachusetts, with about 40 percent on Cape Cod.
It’s exciting to see the Osprey population growing throughout the state. The goal is for this “working group” is to communicate more and to meet annually to tabulate the annual population.