Nassau County Makes It Official - Osprey Elected

The new Nassau County Bird - Osprey sign with designer John Izzarone, Rob Alvey, Osprey, Judy Jacobs, and students and teachers from Carey High School.

Rob Alvey, Founder of the Garden City Bird Sanctuary, appeared as a guest at the February 5th meeting of the Nassau County Legislature to welcome the new Nassau County Official Bird - the osprey. Last summer, in response to a request from Nassau County, Alvey recommended three candidates as contenders for the designation as Nassau County's "special bird" and a public vote was held via electronic ballot as well as paper ballots. Presiding Officer Judy Jacobs made several appearances at local schools to introduce and talk about the birds and show the students that their votes would make a difference. In addition to over 30,000 visits on to the Nassau County web site, over 11,000 votes were cast and the Osprey-also known as the seahawk was the winner.

Attending the ceremony were county officials, including John Izzarone, a graphic artist from the NC Department of Public Works who helped design new "Official Bird Osprey" signs and students from H. Frank Carey High School in Franklin Square. Also appearing at the Legislature was their school mascot - Seahawk accompanied by a Carey Seahawk cheerleader. The sign is representative of dozens to be placed at parks and preserves around the county in early spring. Mr. Alvey and the students each addressed the County Legislature thanking them for the opportunity to bring recognition to a bird of concern. The Osprey's population had dropped considerably during the last century, primarily due to loss of open space as well as use of the pesticide DDT. The Carey High School students "flocked" to support the Osprey during the vote and will have a new sign installed at their environmental courtyard. The Carey students and teachers all briefly addressed the Legislature. Alvey, recent recipient of the Town of Hempstead volunteer award for his successful efforts to create the community nature preserve at a Nassau County "sump" will also have an Osprey sign installed. He thanked the Nassau County DPW, Judy Jacobs and Legislator Vinny Muscarella for their support of the "dual use" program and urged the other legislators to

Rob Alvey with Osprey, Judy Jacobs, Terry Rolla, and cheerleader from H. Frank Carey High School

solicit interest in creating neighborhood bird sanctuaries in their communities.