Sandy Pines Wildlife Centre in Napanee has been rehabilitating and saving all forms of wildlife for over 20 years in the region.
Everything from turtles to squirrels have come through the charitable organization’s doors over the years.
Currently, they are working to return two ospreys back to the wild.
Sandy Pines Wildlife Centre is casting out a request to local anglers – asking for them to donate some of their catch to help feed the two injured osprey.
Staff suspect the younger bird fell from the nest, while they are unsure of how the second older male ended up with serious injuries to its head and chest.
The centre’s assistant director, Leah Birmingham, says it could have been a collision while flying.
“They do sometimes hit hydro wires or fly into things up higher and that could have been the case with him.”
Birmingham says osprey only eat local fish, and the birds have shown no interest in anything from the grocery store.
“Ideally, it’s more natural for them to see the whole fish, the head and all, and also more nutritious to get all of the aspects of the fish.”
The wildlife centre’s founder Sue Meech expects they will save as many as 4,000 animals this year, hundreds of which are birds.
“We’re working quite closely with the Ottawa Wild Bird Care Centre. They have no outside aviaries and a lot of birds that need to fly, so we recently had 11 of their young birds in here.”
Both of the raptors still need lots of care before they will be ready to be returned to their habitat.
Some fish have been already donated but with the osprey eating one or two fish a day, the need for more food continues.
Sandy Pines staff say they want to release the ospreys as soon as possible but that will come down to each raptor’s recovery.
Comments