ISLAND FALLS, Maine — As a result of Emera Maine’s efforts to maintain safe and reliable power while working to protect wildlife, two osprey families in Aroostook County have found better places to nest without having to fly far from home.
This spring, Emera Maine’s environmental team was pleased to find returning ospreys have started using two nesting platforms installed during a transmission repair project over the winter, according to Judy Long, corporate and media communications specialist.
Osprey nests often can be spotted high atop utility transmission poles, with access to open sky. Nests are a bulky pile of sticks, lined with smaller materials. Birds may use the same nest for several years, adding material each year, until the nest becomes very large. In many cases, the nests pose a risk to the reliability of the line and to Emera Maine crews who have to work around them.
During planning for a repair project on a transmission line that runs from Houlton to Sherman, osprey nests were identified that would need to be removed or relocated. During the construction phase of the project, in December 2016 and January 2017, nesting platforms were erected adjacent to the current structures, in Island Falls and Crystal, and inactive nests were removed.
Portions of the nesting materials were relocated to the new platforms in an effort to encourage the successful relocation of the nests and to prevent the ospreys from rebuilding on the transmission structures.
At the Maine Science Festival in Bangor this spring, Emera Maine offered a presentation to students on our work to make sure ospreys have safe homes.
