A better world

We have had a trying few days...and in an odd way, it’s been an uplifting experience. First let me say, I am an idealist. Yup....head in the clouds, often crushed by humanity’s selfishness. But two days ago I got a call about an injured Osprey chick. This poor thing had gone thru such an ordeal. This is a nest in a gravel pit and the fledgling had apparently landed on a conveyer belt carrying gravel to dump into a pile. One of the guys working in the pit saw an Osprey go thru a chute and get spit out into a  pile of gravel and was being buried alive  in gravel. He immediately shut the equipment down and rescued the chick. They called me. It was rush hour and this nest was as far away from me as you can get.....so I called the Raptor Center to see if they had a volunteer closer by that could pick the bird up and take it in for medical care. They had one who lived very near the gravel pit and knew about the nest and would do it. Whew. The good news is that although the poor chick was having some trouble breathing ( gravel dust) and an abrasion on its wing...it had no broken bones! They gave it oxygen overnight and he was doing better the next day. The rehab director talked to me about possible release in about a week but wanted to know what the situation was at it’s nest. Unfortunately, last evening I got another message from the gravel pit guys about another injured chick. This was late in the evening and I could not get the chick before the raptor center closed so arrangements were made for that same volunteer to pick it up in the early morning. Sadly, that chick died overnight. I spent five hours in that gravel pit  today trying to determine if the dad was bringing fish to the remaining chick. As our population of ospreys has grown, behaviors have changed, and with so many nests close together, I must admit it can be difficult to determine which fledglings belong on which nest, and which ones are roving to neighboring nests! But the real reason I wanted to write this post was to say how uplifting it is to see all these people come together, to work so hard to save one, individual young Osprey. From those wonderful guys in the gravel pit , Nate Paulson and Steve Grzybowski, who were paying such close attention and rescued this little guy, put him in a box, and contacted me; to the Raptor Center volunteer who picked the chick up and took him to get the medical care he needed, to the clinic manager at TRC, Lori Arent and the rehab manager, Josh Travers, to all the other medical staff at TRC  and volunteers there who are caring for him, and of course my efforts as well. It truely takes a village. To see all these people spend their time and energy without ego, and for some of us without pay, to help this little Osprey survive and hopefully make it back to his nest...Well, it speaks to the best part of humanity, who think that every little life matters and is worth their time and energy. Sadly, I once worked for a man that said “we dont care about individual birds, we only care about the population as a whole” , but I just don’t agree and have often felt out of step in my idealism and my concern for each and every Osprey. So to have a trying situation, that definitely has had some very painful moments, and yet to see all these special, caring people work for the benefit of one little Osprey, gives me some hope for the world. I work so hard, and so do these other people, because we all think that each life is precious. When good people come together to do the right thing...I am uplifted by the sense of community, the way it’s supposed to be. No ego, no power issues, just, damn good hearts. Thanks to all who have helped rescue this chick. I hope we manage to organize a successful release for this little guy, so he can have a good long  life.