Community

Winery owner helps save injured osprey

A tale of an injured osprey and a once-in-a-lifetime selfie are a reminder to North Fork residents of what to do when you see injured wildlife.

Sarah Nappa was driving down Main Bayview Road in Southold with several family members on Tuesday when they saw an osprey fly in front of a truck traveling in the opposite direction.

“I saw the bird do a somersault and it landed in the bushes,”recalled Nappa, who along with her husband Anthony Nappa owns The Winemaker Studio in Peconic and Anthony Nappa Wines.

Ms. Nappa, who was traveling with her sister-in-law and niece, Amber and Avery Evans, immediately stopped their van, grabbed a blanket and wrapped the bird. She said it appeared stunned.

Sarah Nappa’s sister-in-law and niece, Amber and Avery Evans, with the rescued osprey on Tuesday afternoon.

“I was more worried about it running into the road or it being more severely injured,” she said.

They called Evelyn Alexander Wildlife Rescue Center and were told to bring the bird to North Fork Animal Hospital in Southold.

The vets there said the osprey seemed to be okay because it was able to stand on its own and nothing appeared to be broken. 

Gabby Mysliborski of the North Fork Animal Hospital said it’s not frequent that community members will bring in an osprey, but it does happen.

“It’s very brave to pick up a bird of prey on your own,” she said, adding that if the bird is debilitated enough, it will let a human pick it up without a fight.

She said they will do what they can to nurse it back to health and when they feel it’s ready to return to the wild, they will pass it off to a wildlife rehabilitator.

Ms. Nappa said she’s happy resources like the Wildlife Rescue Center and North Fork Animal Hospital exist to help when situations like this arise.

“We were just glad that there was somebody to call,” she said. “That was the good deed for the day.”

If you see an injured bird of prey or other wildlife, call the Evelyn Alexander Wildlife Rescue Center at (631) 728-4200.

Top courtesy photo: The rescued osprey wrapped in a blanket.