To the rescue! An osprey set free

ERIN FLANNERY
Walnut Woods Assistant Manager

On Tuesday July 23, a park visitor made a report to staff at Walnut Woods that there was an osprey stuck in a tree along the Kestrel Trail. Park staff located the osprey perched in a dead tree, about 30 feet off the ground. The bird had material wrapped around one of its feet, and this material had got tangled around a tree branch, preventing it from flying away.

The osprey was caught up in some landscape netting.

The Walnut Woods staff quickly came up with a plan to rescue the bird. They reached out to Nick French with Admar Construction Equipment and Supply to see if they had a lift available on short notice. When briefed on the situation, Nick immediately dropped what he was doing to assist park staff. Within the hour, he arrived at Walnut Woods with the lift. From the ground, it was unknown if the bird had any injuries.

Park staff greeted Nick and promptly got to work to move the lift into place.

Once the lift was in place, park technician James Boston was able to wrap the osprey in a towel, cut it from the tree, and bring it back to ground level.

James, a park tech at Walnut Woods, volunteered to cut the osprey free.

The material was then cut free from the bird’s talon. There were no visible injuries to the osprey’s foot, and it appeared to be able to use its talons just fine.

Park staff cut the remaining material off of the osprey’s talon, and decided it was safe to let it fly!

The decision was made to release the osprey on the spot. Thanks to the quick thinking and mobilization of park staff, and Nick French for willing to help on such short notice, the rescue of the osprey went off without a hitch.

Park staff was so happy to see this guy fly away.

4 thoughts on “To the rescue! An osprey set free

  1. Thank you for this uplifting story! (No pun intended)
    Kudos to the concerned citizen, quick-acting staff and Admar Construction Equipment, the wonderful bird was saved!

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