A pair of nesting ospreys were electrocuted in Camden after Central Maine Power removed a long-used nesting platform from a utility pole, prompting outrage among residents.
Ospreys have been nesting on a platform above power lines near the Camden Rockport Middle School for years. After the birds flew south for the winter last fall, CMP removed the platform, and relocated it 120 feet away, the company says.
When osprey returned this spring, one pair built a nest on the relocated platform, but another built a nest on the power line pole near the platform’s former location.
On Sunday, Alison McKellar, a Camden Select Board member, went to the site after a concerned citizen alerted her that an osprey appeared to have died in the nest late last week. Using a drone, McKellar saw two dead ospreys in the nest and alerted CMP and federal authorities.
Many in the community look forward to seeing the ospreys return to the site and hatch babies each year, McKellar said.
Middle school classes try to guess on what day the ospreys will return each spring, she said.
“There’s nothing worse than thinking, ‘Oh, I can’t wait to see the osprey chicks hatch and fly, and instead to see two dead parents,’” McKellar said.
Osprey are protected under federal law. While they have been classified as threatened or endangered in other states in the Northeast, they have never been listed in Maine, according the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
Mark Latti, spokesperson for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, said the agency had completed its investigation of the incident and found no violations of laws.
It was unclear late Monday how many osprey nest platforms are near the school. The state agency says there are two, but McKellar and CMP each say there is only one.
“Maine has an abundance of wildlife, and in areas where wildlife and human development intersect, situations occur that don’t end well for wildlife,” Latti wrote.
“CMP attempted to minimize the impacts by voluntarily installing two nesting platforms in the area, something they did not have to do,” he said.
In a statement, Central Maine Power said that it removed the platform because nesting materials were falling onto equipment. It sent teams to respond to the incident and is fully cooperating with the state’s investigation, the company said.
CMP has installed more than 30 osprey platforms across its service area and will review its practices around osprey safety following this incident, according to the statement.
McKellar said she has spoken with representatives from the company and is unsatisfied with their response.
“Nothing I’ve heard from them makes me feel that they care,” she said.
She thinks the company could have prevented the birds’ death, and should change its policies to prevent similar situations in the future.
“It seems entirely foreseeable that they would come back and try to build a nest on the same poles,” she said. “Hopefully this can spur a larger conversation.”