On Sunday morning, Matt Thomson received an SOS of sorts from a fellow animal lover.
The Victoria Point resident told Thomson how breakfast was interrupted by a crashing noise.
“The resident thought it was a boat collision, but it was actually a 15-year-old osprey nest in a dried out pine tree that had collapsed to the ground.”
Among the more than 100 pounds of rubble were three young osprey laying motionless.
“Myself and friend Krystal Hewitt of Speaking of Wildlife typically respond to injured wildlife calls in our area and we were able to gather up the three birds and transport them to Shades of Hope Wildlife Refuge in Pefferlaw, 40 minutes from Orillia,” Thomson explained.
Upon arrival at Shades of Hope that morning, staff immediately examined and performed x-rays on all three birds.
One osprey required a pin to be inserted surgically. The pin will be removed in about two weeks, but the bird will have a long road to recovery and will stay at the sanctuary to heal. The goal is to reunite the injured osprey with his family later this summer.
The other two osprey fared better; one had a fractured wing and one had a bent toe.
“So, suddenly, we were heading back to Orillia with two osprey and I’m thinking, ‘Now what?’”
After a little brainstorming and help from the homeowner, Thomson was able to scrounge up some old lumber scraps and a galvanized wash basin that he turned into a “contraption that looked like a derelict lifeguard chair.”
It would have to do as a new makeshift nest.
The group “patiently waited to see if one of the parent osprey would return to the kids. And she did late Monday morning,” said Thomson with pride.
On Monday night, Thomson and Hewitt returned to swap out the galvanized wash basin for a wooden platform that Thomson “banged together from some twice-recycled deck lumber.”
They were concerned the steel would heat up too much and worried about potential problems that might arise because there was no drain.
Their passion and MacGyver-style techniques worked like a song.
“The osprey family is now reunited and will finish raising two young for the remainder of the season,” said Thomson with a smile.
Thomson deflected praise, saying the operation was a success due to “incredible teamwork” from Speaking of Wildlife, local resident Joy Poyntz, who helped transport the birds, and the homeowner who provided materials for the new nest.
