Osprey Watch Alliance will meet next week at the Gloucester Library, Main Street Center. The meeting will be held from 1-3 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 7, in the library’s Community Room.

Ospreys are expected to return to the area soon. According to field observation records of five years reported locally, osprey arrive on the southern part of the Chesapeake Bay anywhere between Feb. 12 to Feb. 27, a release stated.

The meeting agenda will include planning for spring training with Michael Academia with new apps for Osprey Watch, updates and videos regarding the project for raising of osprey platforms, and plans for field boat trips to observe osprey nests this spring.

Additionally, at the group’s last meeting information was presented concerning the decline in osprey nest success and availability of Atlantic menhaden for the chicks. As a follow-up:

The Virginia Marine Resources Commission petition has opened up the public comments site to receive comments until Feb 5. The petition pertaining to the Atlantic menhaden can be found at www.townhall.virginia.gov.

Additionally, House Bill 19 sponsored by Del. R. Lee Ware (R-Powhatan) is pending to direct the Virginia Institute of Marine Science in collaboration with the VMRC and certain stakeholders to study the ecology, fishery impacts, and economic importance of the Atlantic menhaden population in Virginia waters.

The mission of Osprey Watch Alliance is to sustain and increase a healthy osprey population in the Chesapeake Bay area through citizen science and awareness, education, advocacy and community involvement.

For more information regarding the upcoming OWA meeting, contact Tomoko Hamada (hamada.tomoko.san@gmail.com) or Sherry Rollins (baytchr@msn.com).