An employee at a Kissimmee auto shop reported a family that had been displaced after the thunderstorm on May14.
The employee said informed the Center for Birds of Prey what he saw and thanks to the collaborative efforts involving Audubon Center for Birds of Prey rescue volunteers, billboard technicians, and a local fire station, a nest belonging to the Osprey family is back together.
The employee informed the Center of a nest that was knocked from its platform atop a billboard next to the shop. He reported one baby on the ground, one on the billboard catwalk, and a third wedged in between the two sides of the billboard.
Center’s volunteer rescue coordinator Maggie Haynes sprang into action by sending one volunteer to the scene and calling OUTFRONT Media, the company that operates the billboard. Co-coordinator Cheryl Merz directed a second volunteer to a local fire station.
Ospreys usually nest on top of large trees, but they also readily nest on utility poles and other man-made structures and because their diet is made up of fish, they are particularly susceptible to water quality issues, as well as entanglement in fishing line and other plastics.
On the scene, Rescue volunteer Laney immediately retrieved the baby on the ground as the second volunteer, Noah, directed City of Kissimmee firefighters to the site, who then used their ladder truck to reach the billboard. The two volunteers risked swarms of wasps as they retrieved the stranded still baby Osprey on the catwalk. By sun set, the two volunteers rescued two of the three babies.
As OUTFRONT Media operations manager Roy Milshtein returned Haynes’ call for help, and offered to have two of his technicians visit the site first thing the next morning to repair the platform and retrieve the third baby—whether it could still be saved or not.
At first light, billboard technicians John and Edgar arrived on the scene of the auto shop next door. Haynes pointed out to John and Edgar the third still baby’s movement between the two sides of the billboard. Thanks to John, the third baby was moved safely to the ground and handed to Haynes who reunited the three baby siblings at Center for Birds of Prey.
With all babies rescued, technicians John and Edgar worked to secure the platform back to the top of the billboard, readying it for their return.
A day after the initial call, two of the three babies were seen back atop being fed by one of their Osprey parents feeding a newly-fortified nest platform—a sure sign of a successful reunion.
“I can’t say enough good things about OUTFRONT Media and their response,” says Haynes. “They truly cared about the birds. Roy granted his team full authorization to do whatever was needed, and quickly.”
The Center for Birds of Prey relies on community partners to rescue more than 800 orphaned, injured, and ill raptors each year.
