Team effort saves osprey chick in Red Deer: ‘It’s more than just a community for human beings’

A baby osprey was safely lifted back into its nest last week thanks to the joint efforts of a concerned citizen, Medicine River Wildlife Centre, and city staff with a bucket truck.

Carol Kelly, executive director of the wildlife centre, received a call from a woman who found a bird on the ground while walking her dog.

“She didn’t know what it was. It was just sitting on the ground and it was huge,” Kelly says. The woman sat next to the bird to protect it until wildlife centre staff member Judy Boyd arrived.

Kelly says the bird was about five or six weeks old and well-feathered, but didn’t have his flight feathers so it likely fell out of the nest.

Getting an osprey chick back into their nest, or another osprey nest, is important because after the family flies to South America for the winter, the chicks stay there for two years where they become strong and learn how to fish for food before returning to Canada. A young osprey couldn’t learn what it needs to learn if it stayed at the wildlife centre, Kelly says.

After the baby osprey was determined to be healthy and uninjured from the fall, arborist Ryan Pedersen with the biodiversity section of the city’s Parks and Public Works department returned the chick to its nest.

Kelly says Pedersen was “a littttttle bit nervous about the parent swooping over his head” and did a great job.

Doug Evans, supervisor for the city’s biodiversity section, says many people don’t know that ospreys have some of the longest and more dangerous talons so they can dive into water and catch fish. An air horn was fired to scare the mom away while the chick was reunited with its two siblings.

“The mother was very panicked and very aggressive. We knew we needed to provide some distraction. More than a couple of times she came really, really close to Ryan,” Evans says.

Pedersen also wore gloves, a vest and helmet for protection.

Evans says part of his section’s mandate is to take care of wildlife and it was an incredible experience helping to save the osprey and to see so much concern.

“When we talk about Red Deer as a community, it’s more than just a community for human beings.

“Those types of birds are a really, really important part of our ecosystem within the urban area of our city. That little chick mattered a lot,” Evans says.

Kelly said the city was incredibly helpful. The bucket truck was necessary to lift the bird back into its nest 18 metres off the ground. FortisAlberta staff with their equipment are also quick to rescue in rural areas.

“Kudos to both the city and Fortis for helping us get them back up.”

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