Minnesota highschool soccer crew pressured to reschedule video games for osprey nest

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Transfer over Eagles, one other raptor is taking up the gridiron.

Ospreys who selected to lift their chicks in a nest on high of a lightweight pole at a highschool soccer stadium in Minnesota now have the entire subject to themselves.

Ospreys are a federally and state protected species, and due to their nesting location, the Apple Valley Excessive College Eagles football crew should rearrange their schedule.

"Whenever you inform somebody this story of ‘Wow, we've to reschedule as a result of there’s an osprey nest in our stadium,’ they’re like, ‘You may’t make one of these stuff up, proper?’" Cory Hanson, athletic director on the faculty, whose mascot is the Eagles, advised The Related Press.

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An osprey perches on a flagpole close to its nest on the Apple Valley Excessive College soccer stadium on Wednesday. (AP Picture/Mark Vancleave)

The Eagles should now play all of their house video games in the course of the day as a result of turning on the floodlights the place the birds have their nest may damage them.

Heidi Cyr, of the Minnesota Division of Pure Sources, mentioned the college can take away the nest as soon as the osprey chicks are capable of fly away, which shouldn’t take too lengthy.

"Fortunately for Apple Valley, they need to have the ability to take away the nest inside in all probability per week as a result of the birds have already taken a few of their first flights," Cyr defined.

The college, which turned conscious of the nest in June, has been sending a drone up each few days to verify on the chicks’ progress.

The Apple Valley Excessive College soccer stadium. It is the house of the Eagles, and now, a household of federally protected ospreys. (AP Picture/Mark Vancleave)

College officers plan to relocate the nest to a different platform on faculty grounds and construct deterrents on the stadium lights as soon as the chicks depart, hoping the ospreys will return subsequent 12 months.

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"So if anybody sees that occuring, don’t fear," Cyr mentioned. "The birds are secure. They’ve efficiently left the nest, and so they’re on their solution to changing into adults themselves."

Ospreys are a big chook of prey with a wingspan of as much as six ft, and so they wish to construct nests I excessive locations with clear views.

"Whenever you see these giant birds flying throughout your subject with these humongous sticks, you begin to ask questions like, ‘What's going on right here?’" Hanson mentioned. "And you're taking one have a look at that nest, proper? And also you’re like, ‘OK, this isn't your common chook.’"

He mentioned that different faculties have been useful to find alternate places and instances for video games.

An psprey nest on the Apple Valley Excessive College soccer stadium. (AP Picture/Mark Vancleave)

The division generally points nest removing permits when ospreys make nests on essential infrastructure like utility poles and cellphone tower, however they're often denied if chicks stay.