Osprey Nest Moved To Safety On North Fork By PSEG

SOUTHOLD, NY — An osprey nest was moved to safety in Southold last week.

According to Elizabeth Flagler, head of internal and external communications for PSEG Long Island, a crew relocated an osprey nest on Main Road in Southold on Friday.

A pair of osprey had begun building their nest on a piece of electrical equipment, she said; when osprey build a nest on electrical equipment, it puts the nest in danger of catching fire, which can cause damage to equipment and outages to customers, as well as harm to the osprey, she added.

In addition, PSEG Long Island said, the birds are at high risk of electrocution, as their large wingspan can complete the circuit between closely spaced energized equipment or between an energized wire and a neutral ground wire.

PSEG Long Island received permission from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to relocate the nest before the birds completed building it and laid their eggs, Flagler said.

A crew erected a pole a few feet away from the original location and the serviceman secured a nesting disc to relocate the nest upon so that the birds could continue to build their homes in a safe location, she said.

PSEG Long Island has installed 24-hour webcams at two of the nests safely relocated by line workers, Flagler added.

"Since the resurgence of the osprey population, PSEG Long Island and its dedicated team have identified best practices for when to move a nest, and when to create alternative safer nests for the ospreys," she said.

PSEG Long Island has installed dozens of new osprey nesting platforms to prevent the returning birds from nesting on electrical equipment, which protects both the osprey and electric service reliability, she said.