'Very Rewarding': North Fork Vineyard Team Builds Platform For Osprey

NORTH FORK, NY — A caring group of North Fork vineyard staff who saw osprey struggling to build a nest took matters into their own hands recently to create a safe resting spot.

Deb Stroup, vineyard manager at Bedell Cellars in Peconic, reached out to Patch to report that osprey had attempted at least three times to build nests on PSEG Long Island utility poles between Wells Road and Peconic Lane.

"PSEG just keeps coming and tearing them down and capping the poles," she wrote. "Can we not put a platform up on one of the poles on the south side of the road that is clear of all the PSEG equipment?"

She added: "It's breaking my heart to watch these poor birds be displaced and rattled over and over. I'd just like to know why they won't put up stands?"

PSEG Long Island Communications Senior Generalist Jeremy Walsh responded to Patch's request for comment: "PSEG Long Island is committed to protecting the osprey while also preserving system reliability. We work closely with conservation groups and the state Department of Environmental Conservation to keep these birds safe," he said.

PSEG Long Island had responded to the location, and after sharing its findings with the Group for the East End, "verified that these are juvenile ospreys who are not mature enough yet to lay eggs," Walsh said. "They have been attempting to build so-called ‘practice nests’ on these poles and will not be raising a brood this year."

He added: "PSEG Long Island determined that the best course of action with these immature birds was to discourage them at this early stage from building on utility poles in favor of nearby trees, as conservationists have observed many ospreys on the East End doing lately. Ospreys that are not raising young choose to sleep in trees, rather than nests. We will continue to monitor these birds’ behavior, as needed, and respond appropriately.”

Stroup said despite the explanation, it was evident to her team that the osprey were "earnestly attempting to build a nest. They are now on the next pole down — and I’m sure will suffer the same fate. Very sad!"

And so, Stroup and other staffers, with the help of carpenter Eduardo Ruiz who was recommended by Theresa Dilworth of the North Fork Audubon Society, built the platform at Bedell Cellars. "After watching a pair of osprey desperately attempting to build a nest only to have PSEG come through and tear them down and cap off their equipment, we decided to put up a platform at our vineyard," Stroup said. "Shortly after it was erected, we had a pair interested. If anyone has interest in putting up a platform, it isn’t difficult to do."

Materials cost under $500 and help and the group who built the platform received guidance from the North Fork Audubon Society, she said.

"It was as a very rewarding project and our vineyard team was very excited to see the birds come," Stroup said.