Hi folks,

Interested in raptors?? Know of an osprey nest near your community??? I just found out about a new nationwide study which is asking folks to monitor their local osprey this breeding season.

Andrea Wuenschel
Shoreline, WA

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Become an Osprey Watcher: Connect with a global community of observers

The
Center for Conservation Biology has launched Osprey-Watch, a project
created to engage a global community to collect data on breeding
osprey.? Linked by an interest in osprey and a concern for the health of
the aquatic environments on which they rely, this community will for
the first time provide a global perspective on this charismatic
species.? The mission of Osprey-Watch is to bring citizen scientists
together in order to collect information? on a large enough spatial
scale to be useful in addressing three of the most pressing issues
facing aquatic ecosystems including global climate change, depletion of
fish stocks, and environmental contaminants.?

Osprey are one of
very few truly global sentinels for aquatic health.? They feed almost
exclusively on live fish throughout their entire life cycle.? They are a
top consumer within aquatic ecosystems and are very sensitive to both
overfishing and environmental contaminants.? Nearly all populations
breed in the northern latitudes and winter in the southern latitudes,
effectively linking the aquatic health of the hemispheres.? Their
breeding season in the north is highly seasonal making them an effective
barometer of climate change.

Osprey-Watch is a user-friendly,
internet platform that allows observers across the globe to map their
nests, log observations, upload photos, and interact within an observer
forum.? Information entered into the platform will be immediately
accessible to users and will be summarized following the breeding
season.?

To join a growing community of global citizens, please visit http://www.osprey-watch.org and become an Osprey-Watcher.


Michael Wilson
Center for Conservation Biology
College of William and Mary & Virginia Commonwealth University
P.O. Box 8795
Williamsburg, VA 23187-8795
phone: 757-221-1649
fax: 757-221-1650
email: mdwils at wm.edu
http://www.osprey-watch.org