PSEG Erects New Pole, Platform For Displaced Osprey

SOUTHOLD, NY — It was a happy ending in Southold for a pair of displaced osprey who lost their babies and home when their nest was struck by lightning.

After residents expressed concerns for the osprey, PSEG took action, sending crews to the site Friday to install a new pole, with a nesting platform on top.

“We have identified several locations across Long Island in the last couple of months and have provided new platform homes or resolutions to keep the returning osprey safe,” said John O’Connell, vice president of transmission and distribution, PSEG Long Island. “Within days of completing the platforms, we often see the birds return and begin building new nests on them. We are hopeful these birds will do the same."

The lightning caused a fire in the nest on North Bayview Road near Oakwood Drive in Southold, resident Laura Helf said, resulting in a heartbreaking ending, with two babies dead, as well as a small bird that had died.

(PSEG Long Island)

On Friday, Helf applauded PSEG's proactive response.

"PSEG put up a new pole and platform today. They took all the existing sticks that the birds were using to start a new nest and put them neatly on a platform on the new nest. Due to logistics, they had to put a new pole up across from the old one. They also put up some sort of deterrent so the birds would not try to rebuild on the old pole," she said.

Helf said she also learned that PSEG has an entire unit dedicated to the osprey, which has weekly meetings or phone conferences and "are really proactive in trying to coexist with these birds. PSEG did a wonderful job and I am grateful to them."

Helf was heartbroken to see the osprey displaced after the lightning caused a fire; she sprang into action and contacted Group for the East End and PSEG Long Island.

(Laura Helf)

"The parents and babies were there on a Tuesday and on Wednesday the entire nest was gone," resident Helf said. "I went to look at the area and saw the adult male. He appears to be fine. I have heard from someone living nearby the female is alive as well. They were allegedly seen on top of the empty pole."

Helf said she was worried about the osprey, who had nowhere to go. "It would be horrible if they got separated at this point," she said.

On Wednesday, Jeremy Walsh, communications senior generalist for PSEG Long Island said PSEG Long Island was in no way ignoring reports regarding the nest. A member of the PSEG team surveyed the pole as recently as Tuesday afternoon, he said.

"Our personnel have not dropped this issue since it was reported, but as you might imagine, the June 30 storm that severely damaged western Suffolk County was an all-hands-on-deck scenario," Walsh said.

He added that it was important to understand that osprey nesting platforms cannot simply be installed overnight.

(Laura Helf)

"PSEG Long Island has a dedicated, passionate team that works very hard to ensure that osprey can flourish alongside the electric infrastructure that is essential to modern life. They do not work in a vacuum. They must obtain permissions from multiple agencies and perform the work when personnel are not required for priority system repairs," he said. "We learned that this nest existed around June 21, shortly before the lightning strike occurred."

In addition, Walsh said, PSEG is prohibited by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation from disturbing an active osprey nest during nesting season, "so there was nothing we could do at that point. We immediately added it to our list of nests to mitigate in the fall, once nesting season is over."

PSEG Long Island learned about the destruction of the nest by lightning on the afternoon of June 27, which would have been roughly the day after it occurred, Walsh said. "We could only take action once we knew the birds were trying to rebuild the nest. We intended to send someone out to investigate the site on Monday, July 1. However, a line of fierce storms pummeled western Suffolk County on June 30, causing 96,000 customer outages. All personnel spent the next few days working to repair the extensive damage," he said.

And, Walsh added, even though he said PSEG had not received any further public feedback from anyone about the nest, one of the PSEG team went out Tuesday to survey the specific site and see what could be done — as well as two others where there was recent activity.

"Having confirmed the birds were starting to rebuild the nest, we are actively developing a solution that we can implement as soon as we have the necessary permits," Walsh said.

The solution came just days later — with the community applauding as the osprey found themselves with a new home.