another rescue...

Another eventful day in the osprey world. Last sunday when I visited this nest it was clearly tilting and looked as if it might dump three chicks any day. I could see that the bottom of the box was deteriorating.  I fretted about what to do.  I called a wonderful guy I met last year named Ken Conrad and he came out today, with his friend Dave Faulk, and he climbed the pole, attached some supporting arms so the box is temporarily stabilized and those chicks are out of immediate danger. We will replace the whole nestbox in the fall after the Ospreys leave. There were a few breath holding moments as the oldest  of the three chicks kept standing up and putting his wings out. I hoped he would not jump prematurely, and thank goodness he didn’t. Whew. The female was flying and giving alarm calls and these chicks appeared to be around five week old, when they are still usually obeying her calls to lay down. The youngest of the three remained hidden thru the whole operation, and in fact I was worried that we had lost one since Sunday, but when Ken had returned to the ground and we observed from a distance, three heads popped up. And dear old dad arrived carrying a fish. In fact, this is the same male I rescued last week. I noticed the tilt of the box when I rescued him, and a week later it seemed worse, so I spent a sleepless night trying to formulate a plan to alleviate the potential disaster. I am sure the fix will hold until they fledge in a few weeks and we will complete a more permanent fix in a few months. I cant express enough gratitude to Ken and Dave for coming to the rescue without hesitation. I cant do this alone and I am so deeply appreciative of the wonderful people who pitch in to assist with the care of the Ospreys and the support of the ongoing research. A million thanks to Ken for being a lifesaver. And I also want to thank Steven Koski at Xcel for hooking me up with Ken last year. It takes a village! You can view photos on our Facebook page.