York County Audubon will host a presentation of “The Yellowstone River Osprey Project with Marco Restani” on April 15.

In 2009, a few members of the Yellowstone Valley Audubon Society in Billings, Montana, initiated a field study of Ospreys. According to a York County Audubon news release, they were interested in monitoring the distribution and abundance of the local population, and in helping management agencies and electric utilities reduce human-Osprey conflicts. That first year three members found 22 nests.

Today over 40 volunteers monitor nearly 100 nests along the Yellowstone River in collaboration with power companies, landowners, and government agencies.

The York County Audubon presentation will describe how nest monitors are trained to become proficient in Osprey observation and data collection. From the efforts of the dedicated volunteers, participants will learn where Ospreys produced along the Yellowstone River migrate and spend the winter, how long they live, where they settle to breed, and their lifetime reproductive success. Participants will also learn how many electrocutions and twine entanglements occur each year, and the management to reduce the mortality factors.

The program will be presented at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 15, in the Mather Auditorium at Wells Reserve at Laudholm in Wells. It will be free and open to all ages. No registration is required for attending the program in person. It will also be live-streamed via Zoom.

According to the news release, Restani began birding with the Seacoast Chapter of New Hampshire Audubon in the late 1970s and the mentorship he received launched him on a lifelong journey with birds. Originally an ‘Army Brat,’ he attended high school in Durham before heading west where he received degrees from the University of Montana, Montana State and Utah State. Following post-doctoral research at the University of Washington, Restani was professor of wildlife ecology for 15 years. Currently, he is a Biologist at NorthWestern Energy in Montana, responsible for developing and implementing the company’s avian protection program. He has studied raptors for more than 35 years and each summer since 2012 conducts research for the Yellowstone River Osprey Project.

To view the program via Zoom, visit yorkcountyaudubon.org to register in advance. After registering, a confirmation email will be sent.