Polk firefighters rescue baby osprey

INDIAN LAKE ESTATES (FOX 13) - Polk County firefighters on Tuesday gave the community one more reason to look up to them – literally.  A team from Polk County Fire Rescue lifted a baby osprey back to its elevated nest in Indian Lake Estates.

According to county officials, firefighters were told the juvenile osprey fell from the nest a few days earlier. Neighbors were monitoring its progress, but the bird wasn't old enough to fly and needed to be returned to its perch.

The residents asked firefighters at Indian Lake Estates Station 960 to help. Captain Paul Shannon, engineer Keith Jenkins and firefighter Tyler Rucker used a bucket truck provided by the homeowners association to reunite the bird to its home.

As crews pulled away, a county spokesman said, the osprey's parents flew over to check on their little one.