Two ospreys sit nested on top of the counterbalance of a crane at the Chickamauga Lock in Chattanooga. After the nest was destroyed by storms lastfFall, the ospreys, which typically keep their nest in one location, moved to the crane about two weeks ago.
Contributed Photo by Bruce LylesNot discouraged by losing a home on a power tower near the Chickamauga Dam to a tornado last October, a pair of ospreys has returned to nest on a crane stationed near the new lock construction site.
These birds, part of a population once considered endangered, seem to have taken to risk: They’re content to put up with the crane’s movement, and ride it out, according to members of the Riverwalk Bird Club.
“The government shuts down building the lock, but the ospreys’ construction plans are in full swing,” quipped birdwatcher Harold Sharp.
Sharp said the pair began building about two weeks ago on the crane’s counterweight while the crane wasn’t moving much because work on the lock has stalled.
But he said workers with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which has been building a larger lock at the dam, know about the nest.