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04/30/2022 12:00 AMA winter's worth of wondering has ended with this week's sighting of the return of Osprey to the area of the Aldi construction site in Branford, where the couple has adopted a new, safely placed nesting box several hundred yards away from the former utility pole alongside busy Route 1/West Main Street, where they had nested for many years prior.
"I am beyond excited to see them back and in their new nest," said Carolyn Sires, one of several who teamed up last year in an effort to give the pair, which migrates south for winter and returns to the same Branford nest each spring; a chance to relocate to a safe, new home.
Osprey are notoriously stubborn about selecting any site but their former nest for their annual chick-hatching and fledging cycle in this region. Several years prior to the development of the property at 1151 West Main Street, representatives from energy company Eversource CT, which owns and operates the utility pole where the Osprey had chosen to nest, worked to dissuade the birds' return after they left for winter, by removing any type of bracing or brackets at the top of the pole which supported nesting material (mainly a lattice of large sticks and small, dead tree limbs gathered by the birds). However, the Osprey persisted in returning and rebuilding the nest at the same utility pole for several years.
In 2021, with construction planned for a new Aldi grocery store and Chase Bank at the site, there was no question the old nesting site had to be relocated. As the pole is part of a circuit of energized electrical equipment, the presence of the nest atop it created a risk energy provider Eversource had to address.
As previously reported, as construction got underway, a team effort evolved to develop a new location and place a new platform in the area, with the hope the Osprey would adopt it upon their return. The installation of the new pole and nesting box took place during the week of Nov. 15, 2021. It was the culmination of months of effort initiated by Sires, who is also a Branford Representative Town Meeting (RTM) member (R, District 5), together with RTM member Tracy Everson (D, District 5), joined by District 4 RTM member James Stepanek (R), Eversource Community Relations Specialist Cathy Lezon, Giordano Construction principal Vinnie Giordano, and non-profit raptor recovery group A Place Called Hope (APCH, Killingworth) represented by volunteer Terry Shaw of Guilford.
The group met several times and corresponded over the weeks to develop the best path forward for relocating the nesting site. The effort also received input from the Town of Branford's Inland Wetlands Agent Jaymie Frederick to ensure it would not disturb newly created wetlands on the property. The created wetlands, which will remain undeveloped, were required as part of Branford Inland Wetlands Commission's approval for development of the parcel.
The pole was provided at a reduced rate by Eversource to Giordano Construction, which contributed the funds to purchase the pole. The Branford-based construction company provided the construction equipment, crew and expertise to dig, lift and set the pole.
Situated about 400 to 500 yards away from the pair's original nest, the new platform offers a solid, secure base for the Ospreys' new home. Embedded on a hill beyond the edge of the development area, the platform sits atop a 40-foot pole that's sunk about six feet into the ground. With its extensive height, sturdy wooden nesting box and a wrap and critter guard stretching several feet above ground level, it's a big improvement from the utility pole the nesting pair had called home for many years.
On April 28, Giordano caught sight of the Osprey in the new nesting box, which is now filled with a significant stick nest that the birds have built up from a base that was provided by Shaw and APCH volunteers last year. Giordano immediately contacted Sires. Sires said she has been fielding calls from people asking if the Osprey had returned.
"These birds aren't just known to people in Branford," said Sires. "People from all over pass by them and want to know if they're okay."
In fact, the news from Giordano was a relief for Sires, who had been monitoring the site and had seen the Osprey in the area, and trying, at first, to build a nest by placing branches atop their former pole. After Eversource added a triangular-shaped deterrent to the top of that pole, the Osprey next attempted to build on a utility pole across the street, beside Chipotle restaurant on Commercial Parkway. Eversource added triangular deterrents to that pole, too, said Sires.
"They still go to that [Commerical Parkway] pole as a lookout, but they are now using the new nesting box as their home," she said. "I couldn't be more thrilled and thankful to everyone who helped make this happen."
The pole is monitored by Osprey Nation, earmarked as Branford Osprey No. 3. Launched in 2014, Osprey Nation is Connecticut Audubon Society's citizen science partnership, to monitor the health of the state's ospreys and collect data. More information is available at https://www.ctaudubon.org/osprey-nation-home/