Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Nature and nurture

Another baby osprey falls out of manmade nest at Lake Murray

Walkers stayed to protect the bird and call for help
Walkers stayed to protect the bird and call for help

On May 9 at about 7 a.m., a baby osprey was spotted at the two-mile mark on the Lake Murray service road. It looked dazed but healthy as it sat there looking at the small crowd of people that had gathered to observe it.

In June 2013, two baby ospreys fell out of the same nest that is situated on top of a SDG&E transmission pole. On May 18 of 2014, another baby osprey fell there, too. SDG&E built the nest about 20 years ago because the natural osprey nests kept catching fire atop this pole. Hence, the birds have been living in that manmade nest ever since.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Flying lessons didn't go so well

On May 9, a man said that he had witnessed the whole thing. The baby had tried its luck at flying, all the while losing altitude until the bird hit the ground. When it landed on the road, it did not try to fly; it just sat there.

A woman in the crowd said that she knew about birds, and she suggested that the bird was “posturing” when it slightly moved in reaction to the observing humans. Another woman called the park staff to come and help while the crowd stood around the osprey to prevent bikes from hitting the baby bird.

About 20 minutes later, Gayle Havens, the reservoir keeper, and a male volunteer arrived in the park service truck to take care of the situation. They quickly brought out a towel, net, and cage to pick up the osprey and take it to Project Wildlife.

Havens and the volunteer managed to coax the bird into the cage after covering its eyes with a towel and putting a net over the osprey. The volunteer said that the osprey was bigger than most babies but the grown-up osprey was much larger. The adult bird was said to have a seven-foot wingspan, quite a bit longer than the fallen bird that finally spread its wings when the park staff tried to catch it.

Havens did not think that the osprey was injured, but would be examined, fed, and put back in the nest.

One woman thought that the bird should be left alone on the road. She said to “let nature be nature.” However, most of the crowd and Lake visitors thought that Lake Murray was a city park with human traffic, rather than a natural forest. Someone pointed out that the bird came out of a manmade nest.

Oscar and his wife, two lake regulars who feed the birds daily, commented that “Lake Murray people take care of the animals.”

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

The Digital Currency Wave Hits the Shores of San Diego

Next Article

Hip-hop artist Don Elway makes movies for his music

Not Ordinary EP tells a story of life on the streets
Walkers stayed to protect the bird and call for help
Walkers stayed to protect the bird and call for help

On May 9 at about 7 a.m., a baby osprey was spotted at the two-mile mark on the Lake Murray service road. It looked dazed but healthy as it sat there looking at the small crowd of people that had gathered to observe it.

In June 2013, two baby ospreys fell out of the same nest that is situated on top of a SDG&E transmission pole. On May 18 of 2014, another baby osprey fell there, too. SDG&E built the nest about 20 years ago because the natural osprey nests kept catching fire atop this pole. Hence, the birds have been living in that manmade nest ever since.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Flying lessons didn't go so well

On May 9, a man said that he had witnessed the whole thing. The baby had tried its luck at flying, all the while losing altitude until the bird hit the ground. When it landed on the road, it did not try to fly; it just sat there.

A woman in the crowd said that she knew about birds, and she suggested that the bird was “posturing” when it slightly moved in reaction to the observing humans. Another woman called the park staff to come and help while the crowd stood around the osprey to prevent bikes from hitting the baby bird.

About 20 minutes later, Gayle Havens, the reservoir keeper, and a male volunteer arrived in the park service truck to take care of the situation. They quickly brought out a towel, net, and cage to pick up the osprey and take it to Project Wildlife.

Havens and the volunteer managed to coax the bird into the cage after covering its eyes with a towel and putting a net over the osprey. The volunteer said that the osprey was bigger than most babies but the grown-up osprey was much larger. The adult bird was said to have a seven-foot wingspan, quite a bit longer than the fallen bird that finally spread its wings when the park staff tried to catch it.

Havens did not think that the osprey was injured, but would be examined, fed, and put back in the nest.

One woman thought that the bird should be left alone on the road. She said to “let nature be nature.” However, most of the crowd and Lake visitors thought that Lake Murray was a city park with human traffic, rather than a natural forest. Someone pointed out that the bird came out of a manmade nest.

Oscar and his wife, two lake regulars who feed the birds daily, commented that “Lake Murray people take care of the animals.”

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Taco Taco Poway still has 99-cent fish tacos

Tacotopia prizewinner is well known among Powegians
Next Article

A poem for March by Joseph O’Brien

“March’s Lovely Asymptotes”
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.