Osprey nestling

( Amy Davis/Baltimore Sun / June 25, 2012 )

University of Maryland grad student Rebecca Lazarus with a young osprey nestling. Scientists from the USGS-Patuxent Wildlife Research Center have been monitoring osprey nests in the Back River every 10 days since mid-March when the osprey returned to their nests from South America. Osprey are sentinels for pollution, and the USGS scientists are studying the osprey and their eggs for possible contaminants from the Back River wastewater treatment plant.