July 28
th was a stormy night, too dark and viciously windy for even the bravest of souls to face. The tension was palpable. Her confused cries pierced the air, and everyone worried that by dawn, it would be too late. Who would be the one to free her from her constraints, to rescue her from certain doom?
Sounds like the climax of a Disney movie, right? Or maybe the cliff hanger of this season’s newest reality T.V. show. Well, your guesses were close, but this time our damsel in distress has a beak, tail, and feathers instead of flowing hair and a button nose. Now there’s a plot twist no one could have predicted.
Ozzie the osprey met fame when she became entangled in monofilament fishing line in her nest live on camera. The Chesapeake Conservancy sponsors live streaming of a mystery family’s resident ospreys, and on the morning of July 29, the followers of the osprey family watched eagerly as the rescue mission for the youngest chick, Ozzie, began.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_qzKarNzZs
Going by the self-appointed aliases “Crazy Osprey Man,” (also known as COM) "Mrs. Crazy Osprey Man” and “Osprey Girl,” this Eastern Shore family has been providing a live stream and blog updates of the daily lives of Tom and Audrey, doting osprey parents, and their three chicks, Ozzie, Essie, and Chester, for years. On the night of July 28, 2013, the Crazy Osprey family received many concerned updates that Ozzie seemed to be entangled in the nest by something, but due to inclement weather conditions, nothing immediate could be done. Everyone waited nervously for Monday morning to come.
The Crazy Osprey family knew exactly what to do. They had a volunteer from the Chesapeake Conservatory as backup, but COM was prepared with protective gear, gloves, and glasses as he climbed a ladder to inspect the trapped bird’s situation. Osprey are powerful hunters, and getting this close to a distressed, two-month old put COM in a potentially dangerous situation.
Osprey-obsessed followers watched the live stream eagerly as COM gently pulled Ozzie closer so he could cut the wire with scissors. Mrs. COM stood nearby in case Ozzie, too young to fly, fell into the water and began to drown. Ozzie of course was frightened of COM, but her panicked flapping was in vain. COM untangled Ozzie and searched the nest for more of the dangerous fishing line, and there was a general sigh of relief as the young maiden was released from danger.
Ozzie’s rescue was followed by people all over the Chesapeake Bay area, but her story is not just a fairytale with a happy ending. It is a story with a lesson. If young “Ozzie-bourne” had not been born and raised in the spotlight, she would have died, unable to feed or protect herself while trapped by the fishing line. More attention needs to be paid to keeping the Bay clean- not just for ourselves, but for the wildlife we share the water and air with. We have a duty to dispose of garbage such as used fishing line, plastic rings and other dangerous trash in a safe and responsible manner. Ozzie’s story has a happy ending, but not all birds are as lucky as she. To learn how to dispose of these potentially dangerous items properly, take a look at
these tips. Every responsible action, no matter how small, makes a difference.
If this story melted your heart as much as it did ours, take a few minutes to peruse the
blog documenting the lives of this magnificent osprey family and their crazy humans. Crazy Osprey family members take turns writing exciting updates every few days, and we must admit, we are hooked.
Written by Rachel Ryan.