Photo courtesy of the Medicine River Wildlife Centre Facebook page.
When a concerned citizen found a baby Osprey outside of its nest at 3 Mile Bend last week, it sparked a combined community effort to safely return the chick to its mother.
The Medicine River Wildlife Centre was quickly called, and after an examination, it was determined that the chick was healthy, and needed to be returned to its nest.
Shortly after, the City of Red Deer’s Parks Department was contacted, to help return the chick to its aerial nest near the river.
Doug Evans, City of Red Deer Urban Forestry Division Supervisor, explained that the chick was fledgling, but fell out of the nest prematurely, and was not developed enough to be able to fly.
“If that bird wouldn't have been helped, there's dogs around, there's a lot of other types of predators around it. That bird probably would not have made it a day or even the night,” Evans said.
A bucket truck was available, and operator, Ryan Pedersen quickly responded.
“He's very experienced in dealing with dangerous aerial tree situations, but he's never ever had to deal with this kind of situation,” Evans said.
He explained that Osprey in the raptor family have some of the longest talons of any raptor bird in North America, to be able to fish.
Photo courtesy of the Medicine River Wildlife Centre Facebook page.
Since Osprey are predatorial raptor birds, there was concern that the mother bird would attack Pedersen when he got near the nest.
“The mothers are extremely protective of their young. She was disturbed, one of her young had fallen out of the nest on the ground, and suddenly there was a bucket truck engine. The level of intrusion for that bird was beyond what it could handle,” Evans said.
In anticipation of the mother becoming aggressive when Pedersen was raising the lift up to the nest, the team on the ground used airhorns to scare the mother away briefly.
“There were definitely some close calls where the bird came really close to Ryan, but we were successful and we were able to get the bird back in the nest safely,” Evans said.
Although Pedersen has dealt with dangerous and nerve-racking situations throughout his career, he made it clear that nothing compared to returning the chick.
“The unfamiliarity and not knowing how the mother was going to react was on everyone's mind,” Evans said. “I know any one of our urban forestry operations members would have jumped into that situation without any hesitation.”
Evans expressed his gratitude to the Parks Department Biodiversity Section for their professionalism, dedication, and commitment to the safety of their crews, and the public.
He explained that the Biodiversity Section deals with ecology, biology, and urban forestry within the City of Red Deer.
“When we're dealing with a distressed animal like this, that is absolutely within our wheelhouse of responsibilities and concerns,” he said.
If residents find wildlife within the city, they can contact the City of Red Deer directly at 403-342-8111.
“Our wildlife matters a heck of a lot to our Parks Department. If we have the ability and within safe practices to help, we will certainly help out,” Evans said.