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After the fall, a bird on the mend

A storm knocks it from a tree at a Dunedin golf course, but it's now being nursed at the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary.

DUNEDIN - It must have been quite a ride for the baby osprey when a heavy rain with gusty winds toppled its nest and sent it tumbling to the ground just over a week ago.

The morning after the violent April 25 storm, Al Demetri, grounds chairman at the Dunedin Country Club golf course, found the chick, weak and malnourished, on the ground near the 16th hole.

"I looked at it and realized it was a baby," he said. "I took some pictures, called the pro shop and they called Suncoast (Seabird Sanctuary)."

Charlann Mason, a volunteer with the seabird sanctuary, arrived later that morning to rescue the bird.

"It was just sitting there, and I reached down with my glove and picked it up," she said, "He sat in my lap on the (golf cart) ride back to the pro shop. It was a very easy rescue."

Many feared the bird wouldn't survive the fall.

But thanks to the folks at the seabird sanctuary, the baby osprey is being nursed back to health by a hand-fed diet of - among other fish - sardines, mullet and pinfish.

"The bird came in very malnourished and very underweight," said Barbara Suto, bird sanctuary hospital supervisor, who said the bird has internal parasites. "We're having to cut up fish for it and hand feed it to him, but he's able to do very well on his own."

Suto said the injured fledgling could be as young as 3 months and has a wingspan exceeding 54 inches. Full-grown ospreys have a wing span of nearly 6 feet.

This fledgling is expected to make a full recovery.

"It is in good shape," she said. "It had no traumatic injuries - it's a matter of getting weight on him as quickly as we can so we can get him back out there."

Suto also said this is the time of year when many birds are trying out their new wings and that it's normal to see a fledgling on the ground.

"They have to practice flying to get those skills perfected," she said. "So giving them the time and space to do that is real important."

Back at the 16th hole, the rotted pine tree that once supported the osprey nest is still there. And though the nest isn't, Dunedin Country Club president Wendell Gunn watched as an adult osprey sat perched on the rickety branch tearing into a freshly caught fish.

"They are fun to watch," he said. "How they patrol that (Curlew) creek - you see them swoop down, then a little flicker on the water and they come up with a big old fish."

There are four visable osprey nests around the golf course, at the fourth, 16th, 17th and 18th holes.

Ospreys, also called fish hawks, live throughout the world. Ospreys in northern regions migrate to warm areas, such as Florida, for the winter.

Ospreys nest in trees, jagged rocks, low bushes or on the ground. They build the largest nests of any North American birds. Some measure up to 6 feet high. In North America, during April or May, ospreys usually lay three eggs. The eggs incubate for about 37 days.

At the golf course clubhouse, small talk among four women playing bridge turned to the rescued bird.

"Everybody out here enjoys watching the osprey," said Dottie Boulay, a club member. "When we're about to drive (golf balls), we watch them."

"We watch them all the time," chimed in bridge buddy Judy Campbell. "We'll stop our golf game to watch them."

- Leon M. Tucker can be reached at (727) 445-4167 or tucker@sptimes.com