Last week during the heavy and prolonged rains in Palm Coast Florida (nearly 30 inches in four days), an osprey nest with two chicks was completely destroyed. The osprey family was obviously distraught and hung around the nest location trying to survive. A kind citizen contacted the fire department. Local firemen arrived with a cherry picker and made a temporary repair using a plastic laundry basket.  I thought this was perhaps a valiant but forlorn effort. However, my worries were misplaced. Almost as soon as the fire truck had left the scene the ospreys reoccupied the nest and have been there ever since. Thank you so much to the concerned citizen and to the Palm Coast Fire Department for rescuing this tiny, yet important, part of our wildlife population. As long as we follow their example our wildlife will be in secure hands. Please browse the photographs of the laundry basket-turned-nest taken by Neil Davies, President of Flagler Audubon Society.

A highly visible event such as this one provides a great opportunity for education! While this situation ended well, the safest action to take for the birds is to contact an expert in raptor rescue and rehabilition for guidance. So if you find a baby raptor on the ground, Audubon’s Center for Birds of Prey can be reached at 407-644-0190. They’re a great resource of advice and assistance with nest boxes and platforms for raptor families: with the support of conservationists like you, they have been helping return chicks to their nests when possible--and raise them to fledging when it’s not—for 30 years.