Fence Clearing Turns into Something Else
I had made a date with Kevin Farrell of the Genesee Land Trust to do clearing of the 1/3 mile of split rail fence that borders the Big Field along Baker and Vosburg Roads. The GLT had paid for the fence and FWT did the install some years back. Left unchecked, vines of grape, swallowwort and bittersweet in the field will grow up and pull over the fence.
We were about to start the job when I noticed a large bird adjacent the fence only 100 ft from the parking lot. A closer look revealed it to be an Osprey. We approached the bird within 20 ft or so and it did not change position but looked alert. We moved a distance away and commenced the clearing. When we finished the job some 2 hours later the bird was in the same place. We decided the bird was injured and tried to get some help with calls to local and state DEC. I also had some leads to rehabilitators and left messages. After 6 hours, I revisited the area and made sure the bird was still in the same place. Things really started to happen when I involved Andrea Patterson of the Braddock Bay Birding Observatory. She was able to reach a rehabber who was interested in rescuing this bird and provided the photo of the bird in her hand.
It is now 3 days later, and I have not heard anything about the bird. I believe most of these stories do not have a happy ending. This animal is at the top of the food chain and we did what we could to rescue it and see that it is treated humanely.
john boettcher