Osprey Rescue
October 15, 2004 - Rangers and Scientists Rally Around Raptor Rescue
Eugene, Oregon - When Cascades Raptor Center received a call on the evening of
October 14th, Director Louise Shimmel felt momentarily helpless. Dave
Bickford from the McKenzie River Ranger District called to report an Osprey trapped on the face of the Trail
Bridge Dam; however, by the time Center volunteers could obtain EWEB's permission (difficult since it was already after business hours) to approach the dangerous area by boat, it would be to too dark to rescue the injured bird.
Morning found the Osprey alive on the dam face and unharmed by predators. Scientists Trevor Lucas
and Ryan Simmons from Stillwater Sciences Inc., doing research in the
area, agreed to ferry CRC's Assistant Director Laurin Coggins on the
trip out to the dam in their boat. EWEB Dam Supervisor, Kevin Wiles,
allowed the trio into the off-limits area, holding onto the rope of
the boat from shore to prevent it from heading over the
spillway. Wildlife Biologist Karen Austin and District Biologist Ray
Rivera from the McKenzie Ranger District called in the position of the
bird and came out to lend their support.
The Osprey, which had sustained a broken right wing,
stepped into Coggins' net - a rarity for a
raptor rescue - to the delight of all involved. "He's a
really handsome male Osprey," Coggins reported. "If he doesn't
recover well enough to be released into the wild, we may keep him on
as an education bird and a companion for our female osprey."
Cascades Raptor Center provides rescue and
rehabilitation services for injured raptors throughout Lane County.
The Center is also an educational facility, and visitors are welcome on Tuesdays, Thursdays,
Saturdays, and Sundays to learn about the over 50 raptors currently
living there.
Contact: Laurin Huse, Cascades Raptor Rehabilitation Center at (541) 485-1320 or at Laurin@eRaptors.org. High-quality color photos, JPEG or TIFF, available on request.
If you'd like to support rescues like this, please visit our Support Page.
