How does it feel to spend winter in the tropical weather of the Caribbean and spring in the chiller climate of the Chesapeake Bay ? Well, if ospreys could talk, they could surely answer that.

This month, despite the record snowfall in Maryland this year, ospreys are expected to make an appearance around the bay.

This is obviously a boost to the tourism appeal of the Chesapeake Bay, as springtime is the start of a season when visitors will hang out by the waters. The blizzards this past winter cast some concerns regarding how tourism would be affected.

As Pamela Wood reports in the Annapolis Capital:

Bird watchers and nature lovers eagerly await the annual return of the ospreys.

“It is a harbinger of spring,” said Elaine Friebele, education coordinator at the Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary, which is one of the best local spots for osprey-watching.

There are plenty of other signs of spring on the Chesapeake Bay, too – fish preparing to spawn, tundra swans and other waterfowl leaving, buds sprouting on trees, peeper frogs singing their spring chorus – but ospreys are perhaps the most beloved.

“We’re going to see ospreys within two weeks, which is pretty cool,” said John Page Williams, a senior naturalist at the nonprofit Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

Below is a video on the wildlife on bay: