FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 2, 2018
Contact: Division of Communications
410-537-1017
MDTA’S “OSPREY CAM” GOES LIVE TUESDAY, APRIL 3
BALTIMORE, MD – Starting Tuesday, April 3, visitors to the Maryland Transportation Authority’s (MDTA) baybridge.com website will be able to have lunch with the ospreys every Monday through Thursday from noon to 12:30 p.m., barring traffic incidents. This is the fifth year that the MDTA has offered the “Osprey Cam” featuring annual residents Ozzie and Harriett.
In 2014, a pair of ospreys decided to make their nest in front of Camera “WPL C-501 at Gantry N-1” at the William Preston Lane Jr. Memorial (Bay) Bridge, obscuring the traffic camera, but giving viewers a “bird’s eye” view of their nesting site. After several attempts to move the birds to a safer location, the MDTA constructed a platform on the gantry next to the camera, which has become their nesting site ever since.
Visitors to baybridge.com will be able to watch the ospreys build their nest, lay eggs and rear young ospreys during this quick lunch-time viewing period. Certainly, this is all based on our beautiful birds cooperating for the camera! The MDTA also will keep you updated on Twitter and Facebook as the osprey nesting season progresses.
According to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, ospreys typically lay eggs in April or May. The female osprey lays one to four eggs in the spring in a large nest made of mostly sticks. The female incubates the eggs for about a month, all while protecting the nest with her mate.
The use of DDT pesticides in the 20th century caused eggshell thinning and a reduction of eggs hatching live osprey chicks successfully. This led to ospreys being put on the endangered species list in 1976. Thankfully, banning DDT-use enabled the American osprey population to make a comeback and, in 1999, ospreys were downgraded to a “Species of Special Concern.” Continual nesting around the Chesapeake Bay is a sign of the bay’s thriving ecosystem.
Financed solely by toll revenue, the MDTA is the State agency that finances, owns, operates and maintains the State's eight toll facilities.
# # #