A blue sky stretched across the horizon Wednesday morning as a 30,000-pound digger derrick truck crawled along a narrow road to get into position to install one of two osprey platforms near Stagecoach State Park.

“There were at least four (ospreys) here this summer,” said Toni King, a volunteer raptor monitor for Colorado Parks and Wildlife. She monitors ospreys, eagles, kestrels and vultures in the area by performing counts and surveys.

“We would see them, but we don’t know where their nest is or where they ended up taking up residence, but that’s why this will be cool,” she said. “Maybe their offspring will have a nest here.”

King showed up to watch the two platforms being installed along with fellow raptor monitor Janet Panebaker, wildlife advocate Tracy Bye, who started Born Free Wildlife Rehabilitation in 1992, and a three-man crew from Cromer Contracting Co. out of Craig.

The crew attached the nest to the top of the utility poles and then lifted those poles, which are 30 feet tall, into place.

The hope is that when birds return next spring, they will find the nests, which overlook the shores of Stagecoach Reservoir, and make them home. The monitors also hope the project will keep the ospreys from nesting on the utility poles that carry electricity.

“About two years ago, there was an osprey that was attempting to nest on a live power pole,” Panebaker said.

She said it looked as though the bird didn’t know how to build a nest because it was using big, clunky sticks and other obtuse materials. The nest was also creating a fire hazard because the bird was so close to the power lines.

A few days later, after the Yampa Valley Electric Association was contacted by state park officials, the nest was removed. Panebaker said they found burnt branches and fish when the nest came down.

“We watched him for a couple of days, and just as we were getting concerned about it, Yampa Valley Electric Association had been called and they and they removed it,” Panebaker said. “So Tony and I got thinking, wouldn’t it be nice if we could make them a nice nesting platform, and we’ve been working on it since then.”

The women contacted Bye, who helped organize the installation of two osprey nests in 2019 just off on Colorado State Highway 131 and another in the Chuck Lewis Wildlife Area, and the wheels started rolling.

She connected them with Allan Reishus, who has lived in Craig for 40 years and was instrumental in establishing a string of osprey nesting platforms between Moffat County and West Routt.

Bye also contacted John Cromer, who owns Cromer Contracting Co. out of Craig and donated his crew for the job. High school seniors Noah Brinkman and Grey Barbier volunteered to build the platforms. The two have worked with Bye and built the first two platforms when they were in middle school.

The new nests were placed in two different locations less than a mile apart. One is close to the wetland parking area near Routt County Road 16, and the other is along the shores of the reservoir and can be seen from Routt County Road 14.

On Wednesday, it was hard for Panebaker and King to contain their excitement as the platforms were placed, and both said they are looking forward to watching what happens when the ospreys come back next spring.

Panebaker said the raptor monitoring program is a statewide effort, and the volunteers contribute directly to the preservation of birds of prey in Colorado by identifying nest sites, monitoring them for disturbances and observing the behavior of nesting birds. She said the monitors provide valuable information to Colorado Parks and Wildlife. In addition to the osprey nests, this small group has also installed four kestrel nest boxes in the area.

“We are hoping the platforms will provide safe nesting for the ospreys,” Panebaker said. “It will be great to have them actually nesting here so that the population can continue to grow.”