Osprey drops sticks on power lines, disrupts power for 2,500

Bird did not come into contact with power lines, Eversource says
Apr 12, 2022

No ospreys were electrified in Wareham’s latest nest-caused power outage, which took out power for about 2,500 customers this afternoon.

Half of those 2,500 customers saw power restored in minutes, Eversource representative Chris McKinnon said Tuesday afternoon, after an outage was reported at 12:45 p.m. Within one hour, all but 159 customers had power restored, and the rest had the lights on by 2:20 p.m., he said.

As Eversource maintenance began patrolling the lines, McKinnon said crews found the cause — an osprey that was trying to build its nest with small branches and sticks, which it dropped on a power line.

“There was a deterrent installed in the vicinity of where the bird was trying to nest,” McKinnon said, which helped keep the osprey from coming into contact with the lines itself.

McKinnon couldn’t immediately confirm the location of the osprey nest Tuesday afternoon. Wareham residents have seen osprey-caused power outages before, most recently last May when an osprey that was also building a nest on a utility pole in the Tobey Hospital area.

McKinnon pointed to Eversource’s osprey management page on its website. Concerned residents can report nests to osprey@eversource.com.