"Osprey Cam" Shows Chesapeake Bay Reality TV
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - They've been called Chesapeake Bay's newest and most popular reality TV stars. Online viewers in 60 countries have watched the lives of Tom and Audrey Osprey, and the past few months have been quite dramatic.
The Chesapeake Conservancy's Osprey Cam has provided real-time coverage as the couple built a nest, mated and laid eggs on their perch in the bay. Chesapeake Conservancy director Joel Dunn said it's been difficult for some viewers to watch lately, because the youngest chick seems to be struggling.
"Audrey tends to give more fish to the older chicks because they're louder, they're larger and they can push their way to the front," Dunn said.
There are no plans to intervene, Dunn said.
Audrey and Tom will be in the area, fishing and feeding their chicks for the summer, Dunn said. Then they head south in September - but he said they'll be back.
"Every St. Patrick's Day, they come back to the same nest," Dunn said. "They mate for life, so that same couple will be back next year after a stint down in the tropics."
Osprey have made an amazing rebound in the bay since the 1950s and '60s when the chemical DDT caused severe population declines, Dunn said.
The Osprey Cam is online at chesapeakeconservancy.org.
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