25 February 2026
Good Morning,
There has been a lot of discussion about the industrial fishing of the Chesapeake Bay and the lack of Menhaden for the Ospreys.
The Bay is one of the main areas for ospreys in the United States. There were hundreds of thousands of them. That is a lot of fish required for adults and chicks and the fish are just not there. Can the osprey adapt to eating a different kind of fish? They have certainly adapted over 61 million years, but the problem is – what other fish? Talk to Brian Collins or some of the other fishers from the region and we immediately understand that Striped Bass numbers are down as well along with all other species. Has the industrial overfishing impacted the other regions? Some debate that.
Ben Wurst’s recent newsletter from Conserve Wildlife of NJ indicates the lack of prey is the root cause of nest failure in the area of the Bay. Thanks, Heidi, for this great article.
Heidi, Viki, and I monitored the changing behaviour of osprey in the area. We noted that Duke and Daisy chose not to breed. Viki noted that in 2024, all chicks starved in the fifteen nests they had monitored for twenty years in Maryland. Last year, those same adult osprey laid their eggs and abandoned them before hatching due – I strongly believe – to a lack of food. No sense hatching them if they are going to starve to death. Please don’t tell me our raptors are not intelligent. They are. I continue and will always add what Laura Culley taught me – they are smarter than humans!
The problem is we are killing them and their habitat.
One thing that we cannot ignore is the rising temperature of the oceans, lakes, and streams. This is killing off fish and that will have an immediate impact on seabirds and other raptors that rely on fish as their sole source of food.
Here is an article today in The Guardian:
hronic ocean heating fuels ‘staggering’ loss of marine life, study findshttps://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/feb/25/chronic-ocean-heating-fuels-staggering-loss-marine-life-study?CMP=share_btn_url
So as we move into osprey season, I want us to educate ourselves on some of the major challenges the populations face in different regions of the world.
Thank you for being with me this morning. Take care. Regular blog back the end of the week!
Thank you to Heidi for sending me the article by Ben Wurst. Thank you Ben for writing it and to The Guardian, we are always grateful for your coverage of the environment.
