It’s not uncommon for folks to make their summer home in Walker, but one of its newest residents is overstaying its welcome, as an osprey has made its nest in one of the light poles above Ostlund Field at Walker-Hackensack-Akeley High School.
While the osprey’s there, the lights cannot be turned on. In addition, the migratory bird is federally protected and its nest cannot be moved while there are eggs and young in the nest, except in rare circumstances, ones in which its location becomes a hazard to the public or the bird (i.e., a nest atop a power line or telephone pole that could catch fire).
So, until the osprey leaves, which usually happens sometime in the late summer or early fall, all activities at the stadium will be held during daylight hours, forcing both the soccer and football teams to move their games to 5 p.m. starts until further notice.
“One of the beautiful things about living up north is, there’s wildlife all over the place. It’s unfortunate that this group of birds has set up a nest right in our football field, in beautiful Ostlund Field,” said W-H-A football head coach Aaron Pfeiffer, quipping, “Everyone wants to hang out here—even the osprey does.”
He continued, “The kids are doing a better-than-average job of not making it a distraction. They want to play football, so I guess if it can’t be under the lights, they’ll take a game at 5 o’clock. So, it’s been better than we thought it would be.”
Once there are no longer osprey eggs or young in the nest, the school can get a permit issued from the Minnesota DNR for its removal.
In the meantime, the girls’ home soccer game on Tuesday, Sep. 1 and the home football game on Thursday, Sept. 3, have been moved to 5 p.m. kickoffs.