May 7, 2020 – West Bend, WI – There was quick action taken in the community of West Bend as Bill Mitchell from the DNR stepped in to help save a baby great horned owl from its possible future demise.
On Tuesday this week two owl carcasses were found below the power lines near a pine tree just north of the dam on Highway 33 in West Bend.
For the past few months neighbors had been watching the growth of three owlets nesting inside a vent on the south side of the old brewery building. The owls had been ready to take flight when it appears two of them hit the power line and were killed.
Ric Koch of West Bend visited the owl site on a daily basis over the past few months. He spotted the dead owls on Tuesday and removed them Wednesday night to bury them. “It was pretty gruesome,” said Koch. “Their wingspan is about 6 feet and the branch of the pine tree was right up next to the power line.”
“The one baby was at that level this morning (Thursday) and the mother is in the tree to the north,” he said.
The baby, according to Koch, is pretty active. “It’ll flit around that pine tree and then go closer to the brewery building during the day to get away from the crows and then it will come back to that spot at night,” he said.
On Wednesday, after the death of the birds was reported to We Energies as tree-trimming crew came out and cut back some of the branches.
Mitchell said it’s unsettling the young owls have fallen victim to the power lines two years in a row.
Brendan Conway from We Energies said a couple crews from the West Bend service center went out today, Thursday, to take a look. “We can put some extra equipment on wires to help insulate them in case they’re known to be a high-traffic area for birds,” he said. “We also noticed a tree was close to the power lines so we’ve trimmed back the branches but at least they won’t come in contact with the line.”
Mitchell said he is going to work to have the tree topped off so it is significantly below the power line and less of a hazard in the future.