Utility Workers Move Osprey Nest Built Too Close to an Electrical Line in Westport

A utility worker places the Westport nest on a new platform. Photo courtesy of Jo Ann Davidson.

Workers from Connecticut Light & Power Company moved an Osprey nest in Westport on Monday, October 6, that was built near a power line and also erected a new nest platform nearby for the Ospreys to use next March when they return to breed.

The proximity of the nest to the electrical line resulted in power outages during the Ospreys’ nesting season and could result in a fire that would destroy both the pole and the Ospreys.

The utility workers erected a new platform near the old one, which is in front of Fresh Market, at 605-635 Post Road East. They also moved the nest intact from the pole to the platform.

That nest is marked as Westport #1 on our Osprey Nation map. Jo Ann Davidson, our Osprey Nation nest steward for the Westport #1 nest observed the removal.

“They put it on a platform 50 yards back from the road in the same parking lot, and still near an old dead tree the adults liked to sit in,” she told us.

She observed two nestlings there this summer. They and the adults have migrated south for the winter.

Milan Bull, Connecticut Audubon Society’s senior director of science and conservation, said that Ospreys will usually re-locate successfully if a nest is relocated nearby, which he expects in this case.