August 03, 1989 - Mid-Air Osprey Rescue Is a SuccessB14 The Suffolk Times • August 3, 1989
Mid -Air Osprey Rescue Is a Success
By Paul Stoutenburah
Every day we hear of wildlife being
set back by man or his inventions in a
thousand different ways but it never re-
ally hits home until you are involved.
Case in point — last week I received a
telephone call from a young lady who
had just gotten a call from an osprey
watcher about a young bird in trouble. I
call him an "osprey watcher" because
from his home he can see the nest and,
being an especially concerned person, he
makes sure nothing happens to "his os-
prey." There are many other people like
this who keep their eyes on "their os-
prey" or swan, tern colony, lady slipper
bed or patch of arbutus, their own deer,
raccoon or some other form in nature's
realm. It is good to see these self -ap-
pointed wardens keeping vigil over their
flock for oftentimes their sharp eyes and
quick action make the difference between
life and death.
Of course, these crises do not always
occur at the most convenient time, like
the one last week. We were planning a
cookout. The charcoal had been lit, the
table outside was set and our guests had
already arrived. Then came the phone
call. "Please come. I can't get anyone
else to get the osprey and it is hanging
upside down under the nest." This
sounded somewhat familiar. It wasn't
too long ago a similar call had come but
at that time the osprey was hanging up-
side down from his favorite perch. That
time the culprit was monofilament fish
line and we were able to save that bird.
Ready and Willing
Of course, I'd come. "Yes, I think we
can save it. I'll bring a ladder. I'd be
right there." First I'd give my son Peter
a call and see if he was available. His
resources and skill would be of great
help. So the outdoor barbecue was liter-
ally put on the back burner while I
hastily gathered up some equipment.
The aluminum ladder that usually hangs
on the garage wall had been disassem-
bled and put alongside the house to take
the cat down after some unknown as-
sailant had chased her up on the roof.
And, of course, trying to get it back to-
gether so it could be useful seemed an
almost impossible task for just one. But
I struggled and kicked and finally got it
put together.
I grabbed an old dog blanket and threw
it in the back of the pickup to cover the
bird; without it, the sharp beak and
talons, if not properly thwarted, could
do real harm. I found that out a year ago
IV
Focus on
Nature
when I tried to pick up a red - tailed hawk
whose wing had been broken. I just put
a light jacket over its head to calm it
down and proceeded to pick it up, when
out of nowhere sharp talons grabbed me
right through the light jacket and gave
me quite a gash. How it bled. There was
far more of my blood on that occasion
than that of the hawk. Happy to say, the
hawk's wing was repaired and the bird
later released.
This time I was taking no chances;
the thick blanket would hopefully ward
off any blows. I got the old wood -cut-
ting leather gloves with the high wrist
protectors, a length of rope was thrown
in and then as a last- minute thought I
pulled out the old tree - trimmer. You
know, the kind that has the long rope
attached and the cutter at the end. Per-
haps that could be used somehow. And
with all this gear I headed off to our
rendezvous with the hanging osprey.
Across Deep Water
Sure enough, from where I pulled up I
could see across the small body of water
to the osprey nest with the bird dangling
below. There was a young lady, another
volunteer, over there keeping an eye on
the situation. I was met by the person
who had called me; she was now carry-
ing her baby in her arms. How fortunate
we are to have dedicated people. Was
there anything she could do to help, she
asked.
The tide was high which made wading
across to reach the nest much more dif-
ficult, especially carrying long ladders
and other sundry equipment. Just as I
was getting the ladder off the truck my
son arrived. Now both of us could put
our heads together in this rescue opera-
tion.
We waded in, shoes, pants and all,
soon finding ourselves chest high in the
water. By now, the young lady who was
keeping an eye on things joined us and
we looked together like some safari
troop crossing one of Africa's crocodile -
infested rivers. On approaching the nest
where the young osprey was hanging it
immediately started flapping its weary
wings. Its energy was mostly spent and
its feeble flapping told us our rescue
mission was none too soon.
Should we try climbing with the lad-
der and hopefully untangle the bird
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Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
OSPREY RESCUE —After cutting down the young osprey entangled in
heavy nylon line, the bird was taken to the North Fork Animal Hospital in
Southold for treatment. Later released, it is reportedly doing well.
there? No. Let's try with the tree -trim-
mer, Peter suggested. Ahh, my last -
minute thought of bringing the old
trimmer was paying off. As the long
pole started up it stirred a new round of
excitement in the young bird, which
soon slowed down because of its weak-
ness. The plan was to cut the heavy line
that was the culprit but the cutting edge
of the old trimmer was no match for
man's modern cordage. Time and again
we tried pulling the rope that moved the
cutter head but to no avail. Would we
have to fall back on the ladder? Some-
one suggested trying to pull the line
from the nest. In so doing the bird broke
loose from the huge nest above and
came down into the soft meadow of
grass below.
Before the bird realized what was go-
ing on the blanket was put over it and
with heavy gloves was held tightly and
examined. It lay on its back having
completely given up its struggle. We all
had a feeling it knew we were doing it
no harm and had resolved to let us do
what was necessary to help it out of this
horrible predicament. We must have
worked for 15 minutes or more cutting
each entangled strand of the heavy black
line that had cut deeply into its flesh.
The leg was swollen and looked horri-
ble. Once untangled the bird was rear-
ranged in the blanket with his head out
for air and we headed back to our cars.
The happy ending of this rescue oper-
ation is Dr. Zitek of the North Fork
Animal Hospital in Southold treated the
bird's lacerated foot (one talon had to be
amputated as it was so emaciated). After
rehabilitating the bird was released at the
original nest site and at last report the
parent bird was feeding it and recovery
was not far off. Dr. Zitek, who is a reg-
istered Wildlife Veterinarian, has helped
many a bird to a new life. H i s
encouraging thoughts on the lost talon
not being of any real problem made us
all feel good. We hope the bird will re-
cover completely because there is no
symbol more fitting for the East End
than a healthy, soaring osprey.
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'Everything for the Birder'
• Bird Feeders • Field Guides • Bird Baths • Carvings
• Bird Houses • Seed • Binoculars • Gifts
Open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday 10-5, Sunday 12 -5 • Closed Wednesday
North Road, (County Rd. 48) Southold 765 -5872