fe ature ◗ Nancy pierce
A Day in the Life…
Tragedy and Hope at Crow Bush Cove
Looking down the fairway towards the 13th green where I had just been, and where the flash had originated, I could see something was amiss.
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◗ June 1, 2012. To adapt a literary cliché; it was a dark and drizzly morning. The air, cold and damp; the choppy ocean assuming a somber, grey complexion that reminded me more of November than a spring day in June. Looking back, it was as if the weather was foretelling the events that were about to unfold that fateful morning. I just happened to be changing the hole on the 14th green when it happened. If I hadn’t had my back against the bonechilling wind, I would have been pointed in the wrong direction and would have missed it. “It” was an extremely bright flash that just caught the corner of my eye. Immediately, the light standards that line the entrance road adjacent to the 14th green went out. Looking down the fairway towards the 13th green where I had just been, and where the flash had originated, I could see something was amiss. Our Steiner driver, who had been cutting around the 13th green, had stopped cutting and was looking up at the nearby utility pole that supported a massive nest built just weeks ago by a pair of ospreys. A puff of smoke was still visible around the nest and one of
the ospreys was circling the nest, clearly vocalizing his distress. I rushed back down to the area and the Steiner driver explained what had happened. One of the ospreys had tried to land on the nest, but as fate would have it, because of the drizzle and just plain, bad luck, the osprey was electrocuted on the spot. I had called Maritime Electric earlier in the spring to report that ospreys were attempting to build a nest on the utility pole; this despite the fact Maritime Electric had installed two hoops atop it years ago to discourage that very thing. Maritime Electric said they’d look into it, but no one ever came, as far as I know. The dead bird was draped over the nest, its mate still circling and calling. It was heartbreaking. Ospreys migrate every fall to Central America and into South America. To have this pair survive the migration down and back, build such a magnificent nest and then to have this happen was so very tragic. I made a vow right there to both ospreys that if there were eggs in the nest, I’d do everything I could to ensure their offspring would survive. All our electricity was out of course, as