Environmental Stewardship
Co-op Builds New Home for Ospreys
There are a lot of things you would expect an electric co-op to do, though building a “bird condo” probably isn’t on the list. And yet that’s exactly what La Plata Electric Association did to help out a family of ospreys.
Lineman Tim Baker puts the final touches on the V formation atop the pole. (Photo By: Indi Reed/LPEA)
Being birds of prey, ospreys like to make their home high enough to get a—pardon the phrase—bird’s-eye view of a passing meal. Unfortunately, these ospreys picked an LPEA pole near Pagosa Springs, Colo.
“These birds can have a wingspan of more than 54 inches,” said Steve Gregg, manager of operations at Durango, Colo.-based LPEA. “They can hit two different phases of electric current when they spread their wings.”
So the co-op proceeded to build what spokeswoman Indi Reed called a “bird condo.” Crews went into a nearby wetlands preserve and put up what is essentially a utility pole that has everything but the electricity. At the base lies protective sheet metal that should keep raccoons from trying to climb up to get osprey eggs.
A local wildlife official built a plywood and wire platform to hold a new nest. And to encourage the ospreys to make their nest there, co-op linemen also left some twigs on the platform. They even added wooden slats to make a “V” formation that attracts ospreys.
It worked. During Labor Day weekend, ospreys were seen on the new perch, scoping out the hunting ground below. The co-op, following federal rules, waited until this year’s babies flew off before removing the current nest, and it’ll be awhile before a new one is built.
“Ostensibly they’ll be back in the spring to fully occupy their new digs,” Reed said.
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