On a sunny July day, a group of researchers from the Three Rivers Park District and a guy that knows how to climb utility poles took a hike out to an osprey (Pandion haliaetus) nest that we have hosted in the Prairie Bluff Conservation Area here in Eden Prairie. The reason for the hike? Today is the day that two young osprey chicks who live in that nest at the top of that pole (you can sort of make it out in the far distance in this photo) will be banded by the researchers who will track them for the rest of their lives.
After making the hike, the researchers set up their work area on the ground while the pole climber started his trip up to the nest. When he gets to the top of the pole, he will carefully pick up the two osprey chicks in the nest; carefully place them in the PETCO box; and then carefully lower the box down to the researchers on the ground.
The two osprey chicks are handled with extreme care by everyone involved. The osprey is one of the most difficult raptors to maintain in captivity where it is often too nervous and unwilling to eat. The Three Rivers Park District and the University of Minnesota’s Raptor Center have been involved in an effort to reintroduce ospreys to the Twin Cities area since 1984, including this pair that lives in a nest on a platform on top of a 40 ft utility pole in one of our City parks.
After the chicks receive their new identification tracking bands, they have their blood drawn and are checked for general health. Then, they go carefully back into the PETCO box and get ready for their trip back up the pole to their nest. All this is happening in front of the chicks parents who occasionally swoop on the guy climbing the pole. Makes a dangerous job even more tricky for him.
Finally, the osprey chicks are placed back in their nest where they will continue to grow and mature until they can fly and fish for themselves – right here in Eden Prairie.
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I would like to thank City Forestry Technician Jeff Cordes for these photographs.
