KILLINGWORTH

An osprey that was stuck at the top of a high tension power line is recovering after wildlife rehabilitators from A Place Called Hope sprang into action.

A Place Called Hope (APCH) received a call after 9 p.m. on July 31 about an osprey that had become stuck at the top of an Eversource Electrical pole, about 50-feet in the air. The bird was trapped at the top pole between a high tension power line. The environmental team at Eversource and the crew from APCH were concerned that if it flapped in the wrong direction there was danger of electrocution.

Todd Secki, vice president and co-founder, was immediately dispatched to the scene and learned that the bird had been stuck for at least five hours. Callers from a nearby apartment complex said they had seen the osprey since 4 p.m. and appeared to be unable to get off the top of the pole.

Believing the osprey was stuck because of fishing line, rescuers reached the top of the pole using a bucket truck and discovered that the bird was a fledgling osprey who had left the nest and landed, gathering its bravery to leave. Rescuers from APCH said the osprey was most likely “helicoptering, hovering over the pole just a few inches to feet at at time practicing” which gave the appearancde that it was tethered to the pole.

The osprey, named Oscar the Osprey, by its rescuers had been stranded for up to nine hours and was suffering from dehydration related to the extreme weekend temperatures. It will return to its nesting territory after recuperating at APCH.