OKALOOSA ISLAND — Okaloosa County officials are waiting to remove a crane that has become the home of an osprey family.
The crane owned by F&W Construction of Newton, Ala., likely will sit on Okaloosa Island near Helen Back for the next few months while officials wait for osprey hatchlings to leave the nest.
“In order for them to move the nest they would have to get a permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Commission, and by the time that’s approved the nest will probably be empty,” said Brittany Patrick, a wildlife health technician with the Emerald Coast Wildlife Refuge. “So the birds are not in any immediate danger. The county is just waiting.”
Ospreys are large birds of prey that feed primarily on fish. Females typically lay three eggs in the spring in large nests. Trees and man-made structures such as telephone poles are commonly used.
The osprey is listed as a Species of Special Concern only in Monroe County in Florida. However permits are required throughout the state to remove a nest, and a replacement structure must be erected in its place.
Mark Wise, deputy director of the county’s Water and Sewer
Department, said the crane was brought in by F&W Construction last December to help with a $2.5 million sewer lift project.
The contractor completed its part of the job but left the crane on the island until entire project was finished. Wise said F & W planned to return to retrieve its crane.
“In that period, low and behold, an osprey started forming a nest there,” Wise said. “There’s a lot of regulation around that, so it’s still sitting there. No one’s allowed to disturb the nest, so the crane’s out of use for now.”
Wise said officials believe the hatchlings will leave the nest sometime this fall.
“I’ve been told it could be anywhere from six to eight months. We think the nest got there in April,” Wise said. “It’s an odd scenario we have found ourselves in.”
