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Letter to the editor

Many efforts to help birds made a love nest

By A TIMES EDITORIAL
Published August 17, 2007

In a world plagued by so many problems that seem overwhelming, it is almost cathartic to read about the extraordinary caring that went into creating a safe nesting place for a pair of ospreys in East Lake.

After a 2006 tropical storm knocked down the old pine tree where they had nested for years, the avian couple moved - to a precarious perch on the top of a shopping plaza sign alongside busy East Lake Road. Motorists were often startled when the big birds of prey, which can have up to a 6-foot wingspan, swooped in front of their vehicles to approach the nest.

While many observers gasped at the near misses, Barbara Walker, a nearby resident and local Audubon Eagle Watcher, was worried enough about the ospreys to call around looking for help. She learned that Progress Energy would build and erect a platform designed just for nesting purposes and move the nest to it - a $1,500 process - as a donation to the Audubon Society.

Last week, a Progress Energy crew put up a 30-foot-tall pole and nesting platform nearby, and moved a portion of the old, empty nest to the new platform to help lure the birds to it. Then they erected a barrier on top of the shopping plaza sign so the birds could not build a nest there again.

If all goes well, when the ospreys return next spring for the nesting season, they will smell or see the nesting materials on the new platform and settle in. Since it is a much taller perch than the sign, the birds will have a better view of the surrounding area where they catch the fish that make up most of an osprey's diet. Most important, they will be located well away from hazardous and noisy East Lake Road traffic.

The utility company's willingness to relocate the nest, even though it did not interfere with power lines, is worthy of praise, as are the efforts of Walker, the property owner and others who cared enough to get involved.

There is a positive message in what they did: No matter how mad the world may seem, we can still have a positive impact on the place where we live if we care enough to try.

[Last modified August 16, 2007, 20:39:44]