Ranger Mom
08-04-2005, 11:19 PM
(AP) New Brighton, Minn. A federally protected bird of prey has made its nest atop a light pole at Irondale High School's football field.
And because it's against the law to disturb an osprey, school officials are waiting to see whether school activities can go on as scheduled. If not, the completion of an artificial turf project may have to be postponed, and the school's marching band and soccer and football teams may have to practice elsewhere.
"I thought it was pretty awesome," principal Colleen Wambach said, recalling her first reaction. "Now I'm just hoping we can coexist."
Vanessa Greene, who heads the Twin Cities Osprey Project at the Three Rivers Park District, said she was visiting the school to assess the situation. There is at least one chick in the 3-foot-wide nest.
Greene said any youngsters likely hatched about five weeks ago, and anyone taking actions that kill an osprey chick could be fined by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Mounds View Schools official John Maas said the birds have been "part of the Mounds View family. We've had work on the field all summer and they haven't seemed disturbed by it yet."
Diesel trucks have been in the school parking lot, Maas said. In addition, the fields were filled with activity as kids played Legion ball and summer physical education students played volleyball and golf and Frisbee there.
"If there are chicks in the nest, they're climatized to all that's going on there," said Maas.
Maas said he had asked the state Department of Natural Resources about relocating the nest. He learned they would need permits to move a nest, but nothing could be done if there were eggs or babies.
The osprey nest sighting was good news to Greene and John Moriarty, natural resources manager for Ramsey County Parks. The Irondale nest is the eighth in the Ramsey County area, Moriarty said. It's likely an offshoot of the Osprey Project, started in 1984 to reintroduce ospreys from northern Minnesota into the metropolitan area. Last year, the project documented 53 osprey chicks.
Both naturalists said the nest should be moved when the birds leave the nest. Since osprey return to their nests year after year, a substitute pole with a special nesting platform could be put up nearby.
Maas said nobody realized the complications the bird would bring. "We thought it was nice the osprey was there."
And because it's against the law to disturb an osprey, school officials are waiting to see whether school activities can go on as scheduled. If not, the completion of an artificial turf project may have to be postponed, and the school's marching band and soccer and football teams may have to practice elsewhere.
"I thought it was pretty awesome," principal Colleen Wambach said, recalling her first reaction. "Now I'm just hoping we can coexist."
Vanessa Greene, who heads the Twin Cities Osprey Project at the Three Rivers Park District, said she was visiting the school to assess the situation. There is at least one chick in the 3-foot-wide nest.
Greene said any youngsters likely hatched about five weeks ago, and anyone taking actions that kill an osprey chick could be fined by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Mounds View Schools official John Maas said the birds have been "part of the Mounds View family. We've had work on the field all summer and they haven't seemed disturbed by it yet."
Diesel trucks have been in the school parking lot, Maas said. In addition, the fields were filled with activity as kids played Legion ball and summer physical education students played volleyball and golf and Frisbee there.
"If there are chicks in the nest, they're climatized to all that's going on there," said Maas.
Maas said he had asked the state Department of Natural Resources about relocating the nest. He learned they would need permits to move a nest, but nothing could be done if there were eggs or babies.
The osprey nest sighting was good news to Greene and John Moriarty, natural resources manager for Ramsey County Parks. The Irondale nest is the eighth in the Ramsey County area, Moriarty said. It's likely an offshoot of the Osprey Project, started in 1984 to reintroduce ospreys from northern Minnesota into the metropolitan area. Last year, the project documented 53 osprey chicks.
Both naturalists said the nest should be moved when the birds leave the nest. Since osprey return to their nests year after year, a substitute pole with a special nesting platform could be put up nearby.
Maas said nobody realized the complications the bird would bring. "We thought it was nice the osprey was there."