I have to be honest. I didn't know what to expect when we were headed to the first nest. I knew that it was only accessible through the power company because it crossed some private property in order to make it to the platform put up by Beartooth Electric Cooperative, Inc. We arrived at our pre-determined meeting place just outside of Columbus at a cemetery on the frontage road. We were to meet Don and Jake, two gentleman who work for Beartooth Electric. That morning it was Kayhan Ostovar, Marco Restani and his wife Julianne and myself representing this project.
Things looked sketchy out of the gate. We had some trouble finding exactly the right road that would take us to the nest. When we finally did find it, a farmer had been irrigating recently and it seemed likely that one of the bucket trucks would get stuck. After all, these trucks have to weigh between 7,500 and 10,000 lbs with all of that equipment. But Don and Jake were determined to make this happen for us. We didn't want to push them too far beyond anything they were comfortable with. I felt this was fair because the service they were providing was invaluable and free of charge. We took it easy and scouted out a dry path and finally made it to the nest. At this point, I myself haven't seen an osprey up close; only through a pair of binoculars.
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| Beartooth Electric Cooperative, Inc. bucket truck taking Marco to the 1st nest | | |
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An osprey-quite shocked at what this strange thing is that is touching him
At this point my heart was racing. I didn't
know what to expect. I'm thankful for the confidence that Marco
exhibited. Marco is what's known as a Master Bander and permitted
through the USGS to handle and draw blood from birds. He has worked with
literally thousands of birds. I can remember shaking in excitement as
the bucket lowered down and Marco held out the first box. The first look
in the box at the osprey nestling and I was enamored. I could simply
not believe that I had a wild osprey nestling so close!
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| One of the 1st nestlings-quite in shock at the experience of being handled by this new creature |
We finally got to work. I didn't handle any of the birds at first because frankly I didn't have a clue what I was doing. Marco's wife, Julianne, has helped Marco before so I let her step in and the two of them showed me the ropes. It's just an animal right? How hard could it be?
Really hard. It's not just an animal. It's a raptor nestling who thinks it's going to die because that's what wild animals think when they get caught in nature. I was taught a lesson in gentleness because these are fragile creatures at this stage in their life. But they sure are tough and not one has ever given up completely.
With the first nest out of the way, we headed to the second nest that was under the jurisdiction of Beartooth Electric Cooperative, Inc. This nest was much trickier. The location doubled both as a powerline and a platform. The platform was in fact situated above a 2-cycle powerline. Basically it could zap you pretty well if you didn't know what you were doing. The linemen had to first protect themselves from potential hazard. They placed a great deal of rubber protective devices on all of the active lines. It was not safe for us to go up to this nest so we gave a crash course to them in osprey handling. Don and Jake did a great job-even with a rather protective mother. You can see her in the picture above circling the nest. She had a number of close encounters but overall she let us do our work unharmed.
Marco allowed me to handle my first bird at this point. I was so nervous! But I was able to keep my calm while handling the birds, which is unusual for me because normally when I'm this excited/nervous my motor skills are a joke. But I think my determination to pursue what I love doing and my admiration of these incredible raptors allowed me to steady my hands. And then I held one....
This was hands down the highlight of my year, possibly my college experience. I can say that they are sleek, yet powerful while maintaining an air of elegance about them. It sounds cheesy, but hold one and you'll know what I'm talking about.
None of that day's events would have been possible without the help of Don, Jake and Eric Elton at Beartooth Electric Cooperative, Inc.
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| Jake-left Don-right |
I highly encourage you to send a thank you to the folks at Beartooth Electric Cooperative, Inc. You can do so at the following address-
http://www.beartoothelectric.com/content/contact-us
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