From Westport to the World and Back Again
By Meghan Jeans, Executive Director
Each fall, ospreys rise above the Westport River and begin an astonishing journey. Some travel thousands of miles to wintering grounds in the Bahamas, Colombia, Brazil and beyond. In the spring, they return, often to the same nesting territory they left months earlier.
An osprey’s life does not conform to the boundaries we draw on maps. A bird nesting along the Westport River depends on fish in our coastal waters, safe passage along the Atlantic Flyway and healthy habitats across multiple countries. What happens elsewhere can reach us, just as the work we do here can have effects far beyond our community.
A Recovery Rooted in Science
Sixty years ago, ospreys across southern New England were in serious decline. DDT had accumulated throughout the food web, thinning their eggshells and causing widespread nesting failure.
Along the Westport River, Gil and Jo Fernandez began monitoring nests, banding birds and documenting what was happening. They worked with scientists, installed nesting platforms and helped bring healthy eggs from the Chesapeake Bay to Westport nests.
Their efforts were part of a much larger conservation movement. Research conducted across the region established the connection between DDT and collapsing bird populations. Local observations informed national action, including the eventual ban on DDT. Following that ban and decades of dedicated stewardship, ospreys returned in remarkable numbers.
The sight of an osprey fishing over the Westport River, once at risk of disappearing, is now a familiar part of summer. It is one of our region’s great conservation success stories.
From Westport to Illinois
Today, that recovery is helping ospreys elsewhere. Since 2020, the South Coast Osprey Project works with partners in Illinois, where ospreys are classified as threatened under the state Endangered Species Act, to translocate carefully selected young birds from healthy local nests.
The young ospreys complete the fledging process in Illinois, where the goal is for them to return as adults and establish nests of their own. It is an extraordinary full-circle story: help from beyond Westport contributed to our recovery, and the strength of our local population now allows Westport to support recovery hundreds of miles away.
Why Long-Term Science Matters
Science does more than warn us when something is wrong. It helps us understand why, identify solutions, measure whether they are working, and share what we learn across geographic boundaries.
It also helps us put new observations in context. This year, volunteers recorded the poorest osprey fledging success in recent years. Observations of fewer menhaden, an important food source for ospreys and many other species, are also raising questions about the broader marine food web. One difficult season however does not, by itself, establish a trend or tell us its cause. It tells us to pay attention.
Because generations of observers have collected data year after year, we can compare current conditions with the past, contribute to a wider understanding of changes occurring along our coasts and ask better questions about the forces affecting our river. At a time when scientists are documenting declines in migratory birds around the world, that long-term local record is more valuable than ever.
More Than 20 Years of Mass Audubon Stewardship
After the pioneering work of Gil and Jo Fernandez, Mass Audubon provided the South Coast Osprey Project with an institutional home for more than two decades. Through its staff at Allens Pond Wildlife Sanctuary, Mass Audubon managed the program, coordinated its volunteers, oversaw nest monitoring and banding, maintained platforms, preserved valuable long-term data and connected community members directly with the birds and the science.
Alan Poole provided invaluable scientific guidance throughout those years. Gina Purtell assumed leadership of the project in 2013 and expanded its reach by involving volunteers, interns, donors and community members in the fieldwork. Together, Mass Audubon staff and a deeply committed network of volunteers strengthened the program’s science while building the community that sustains it.
That long period of stewardship allowed the project not only to endure, but to grow in scientific rigor, community participation and conservation impact. WRWA is deeply grateful to Mass Audubon for carrying the program forward and preparing it for this next chapter.
Carrying the Legacy Forward
As Mass Audubon concludes its management of the South Coast Osprey Project, WRWA is honored to accept the responsibility of carrying it forward. We are not starting something new. We are receiving an extraordinary legacy built over more than 60 years by Gil and Jo Fernandez, Alan Poole, Mass Audubon, Gina and generations of volunteers and supporters.
Under Gina’s leadership and with Alan’s continued guidance, we hope to engage more volunteers, invite more people into the science and use what we learn to deepen our understanding of the river and the larger coastal ecosystem it supports.
The recovery of Westport’s ospreys shows what is possible when good science, sustained commitment and community action come together. It is a hopeful story and a reminder that conservation is never confined to one place. Our river is part of a larger living system, and our choices ripple outward.
The work begins here, but it does not end here.
