FLORIDA -- Orange County firefighters rescued an osprey that had gotten tangled in a fishing line, then stuck in a tree near a baseball field off North Pine Hills Road..
A caller reported seeing the bird at about 4 p.m., about 30 feet off the ground, said Scott Egan, an officer for the Orange County Professional Fire Fighters union.
Lt. Nichol Stratman and firefighter Gus Ferreira used the ladder on their truck to reach the bird, he said.
They untangled the fishing line and brought the osprey to the Audubon Center for Birds of Prey in Maitland.
"It was exhausted from being stuck for so long," Egan said, though firefighters were not sure exactly how long the bird was in the tree.
By Wednesday, the bird was doing "amazingly well," said Dianna Flynt, rehabilitation supervisor at the Audubon Center for Birds of Prey.
"We are so grateful to all the people involved with this young bird's rescue," she said in an email.
The young male bird, who only recently started flying, had a dislocated hip but no bone fractures, Flynt said.
He is on anti-inflammatory and pain medication, and will be resting in a cage until he heals.
"We are hoping for a speedy recovery," Flynt said.
The bird will join 12 other ospreys in the center's clinic and 11 more in its flight cage, who are closer to being released back into the wild.
Any local fishermen who want to help the bird's recovery can donate their catch to the center, Flynt said.
Osprey, birds of prey that typically hunt fish, can be found throughout Florida, according to the state's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
They have a wingspan of about 72 inches – slightly smaller than the bald eagle.
About a year ago, the same Orange County Fire Rescue crew rescued another bird in distress in Bay Hill.
"They're the bird-rescuing crew now," Egan said.
(
Orlando Sentinel - July 14, 2015)
