A storm downed an osprey nest in Hilton Head gated community. Residents got to work
Residents in one Hilton Head Island community have worked hard on one of their Christmas presents this year.
But it won’t fit under any tree. It is a tree. Of sorts.
On Wednesday, arborists hoisted a 44-foot telephone pole with a platform affixed to the top over one of Palmetto Hall’s golf courses. The structure is ready for a pair of migratory birds of prey that, community members hope, will chose the site to build their nest, as they have in years prior.
This year, a pair of ospreys arrived sometime around Valentine’s Day, nesting on top of a pine tree. But in August during a storm, the top of the dead tree came crashing down, taking the nest with it, said Susan Moore, a member of Palmetto Hall’s bird committee.
The towering platform is a carefully crafted replacement.
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Ospreys, known to some as fish eagles or fish hawks, can migrate hundreds of miles each year, often returning to the same nest, according to the S.C. Department of Natural Resources. Beaufort County is home to other man-made nesting sites, including a pole erected by the Coastal Discovery Museum in 2014 and a nesting site near the entrance to Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island.
The Palmetto Hall bird committee moved mountains to make sure their community will continue to play host to the raptors.
They approached Operations Manager Bruce Massey, who helped coordinate funding and approached Palmetto Electric Cooperative to find the telephone pole, Moore said.
Once the pole had been selected, ArborCare Tree Experts transported it to the community and Ocean Woods Landscaping raised it off the ground slightly, so the bird committee could strip it of its wiring and install the handmade platform, according to Moore.
On Wednesday, ArborCare raised the structure, which will keep watch over the Arthur Hills golf course, between the fourth and fifth holes.
“We wanted to get this nest up and ready by the time they start scouting back for the nest (this spring),” Moore said.
Ospreys are known to overwinter in southern Florida as well as Central and South America, according to the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology.
With any luck, Moore said, the birds will take to the platform and build a nest.
Linda O’Rourke, another bird committee member, has watched the birds for years as they lay eggs and care for their young.
“It’s just a wonderful thing to see how nature progresses,” she said.
