The Deep River Land Trust (DRLT) recently held one of its first spring educational programs for the community: an osprey and marsh bird viewing at the Evelyn and Hawthorne Smyth Sanctuary in Deep River.

The observation deck of the sanctuary is an ideal spot for viewing water birds and the osprey that return each year to nesting platforms in the fresh water tidal marsh of Pratt Cove.

“The idea is to welcome back the osprey,” said DRLT board member John Cunningham, speaking to the Courier by phone prior to the event on April 3.

Cunningham had already seen evidence of the birds’ return to at least one of the three platforms in Pratt Cove. He’s been helping to monitor these nesting sites for Osprey Nation, a stewardship program of the Connecticut Audubon Society.

Osprey Nation was set up to help gauge the health of this bird species after it experienced a decline in population due to the widespread use of the pesticide DDT in the 1940s.

The pesticide caused eggshell thinning, which meant eggs were crushed when incubated, limiting the number of eggs that hatched into new fledglings. With the pesticide being banned in 1972, this fish-eating bird of prey is now more prevalent along Connecticut’s waterways.

Cunningham, who grew up in Michigan, but spent his summers exploring Pratt Cove and studying the birds there, said the resurgence is a welcome sight.

“When I was a teenager, I was really excited about all birds, but especially birds of prey and ospreys were rare,” said Cunningham. “I might see just a few the whole summer. There were just a few nesting at the mouth of the river.”

He says there are many reasons to get excited about osprey.

“They are just a magnificent bird,” said Cunningham. “And you can see them. They are not small and they’re out in the open a lot, but the other reason is, they are such an environmental success story.

“We hear a lot of doom and gloom about the environment and it’s nice to have a story, a story that I’ve experienced in my lifetime, of the osprey really returning and thriving,” he continued.

Cunningham, who has a degree in biology from the University of Michigan and recently retired as an environmental science teacher for the Foote School in New Haven, said the location of the land trust’s bird viewing event is a “unique habitat in both Connecticut and really the world.”

“You have tidal high and low tides, but it’s not salt water, it’s fresh water. So, there are some unique aspects to the cove in that respect in vegetation and some of the other wildlife. So, it’s a special place for me, and from an ecological point of view,” he said.

Smyth Sanctuary was the first piece of land acquired by DRLT, in 1977, according to the land trust’s trail map.

In 2019, the size of the sanctuary was increased to approximately 2.3 acres after DRLT purchased an adjacent parcel of land with the financial support of the Connecticut River Gateway Commission, the State of Connecticut, and private donors. Visitors can find parking in a municipal lot on Essex Street.

An Earth Day clean up on Saturday, April 24 is the next community event for DRLT.

More information on the DRLT’s upcoming outdoor educational programs is available at deepriverlandtrust.org.