Osprey banding June 10, 2026

Osprey banding June 10, 2026

By: Reese Lukei, Jr., Board Member emeritus, Back Bay NWR Society and Keriann Spiewak, Spiewak, senior trainer of animal ambassadors at the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center

Photographs by: Reese Lukei, Jr., Board Member emeritus, Back Bay NWR Society and Mallory Dillion, Board member, Back Bay NWR Society

This is a preliminary report on the banding of Osprey nestling at Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge on June 10, 2026. The survey was conducted by Keriann Spiewak, Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center, Reese F. Lukei, Jr, the Center for Conservation Biology at William & Mary (and BBNWR volunteer), Charlie Ellin boat captain and BBNWR volunteer, Mallory Dillon, BBNWR Society and four interns from BBNWR.

There are three more nests with Osprey nestlings too young to band today, and we may consider returning to band those chicks in two weeks.

There were a total of 15 nestlings in six nests. We placed bands on five of them as detailed below. Three nests had seven nestling too young to band, and one nest too tall and unstable to band with three nestling. Three nests with eggs on April 24 had no nestlings today. There were no remaining unhatched eggs.

Nestlings Banded:
Nest P3 #7162 – Purple band VW, USGS #1088-04774, weight 1080 grams, crop 3/4 full
Purple band WK, USGS #1088-04775, weight 1010 grams, crop empty

Nest P1 #7161 – Purple band WV, USGS #1088-04776, weight 1462 grams, crop 1/2 full
Purple band WX, USGS #1088-04777, weight 1640 grams, crop full
Purple band ZD, USGS #1088-04778, weight 1430 grams, crop 1/4 full

We took oral and cloacal swabs today from the banded nestlings to be tested by Virginia Aquarium veterinarians for avian flu and other possible health issues.

Special “Thank you” to Charlie Ellin for providing our boat transportation and leading the effort over the past few years to make necessary repairs to several of the Osprey nest platforms.