An Osprey chick’s failed first flight led to a 36 hour saga for both herself and a wildlife rescuer

Fledgling bird of prey’s big Gold Coast adventure following the recent death of her sibling. SEE THE PHOTOS.

THE surviving sibling of an osprey chick that was found dead after becoming entangled in discarded fishing line recently gave Gold Coast residents quite the show.

After failing in her first flight attempt, Olive the Osprey chick posed for photos before a wildlife rescuer ended up needing a cherry picker to return her to her nest above the Gold Coast Broadwater.

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Rowley Goonan, 67, of Wild Bird Rescues Gold Coast shared the nine-week-old chick’s 36-hour saga with followers of his Facebook page on October 11.

Olive the Osprey’s big adventure

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Olive the Osprey’s big adventure

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“It’s been a hectic 36 hours for young Olive,” he wrote.

Olive’s nest is on a tower platform over the Sundale Bridge in Southport.

Only weeks earlier, Mr Goonan had cut down Olive’s sibling after it was found hanging from the platform with fishing line, about 1.5m underneath the nest.

A member of the public had previously reported seeing a fishing line tangled around the talon of the chick’s father after he had returned from hunting.

It was believed the fishing line then got caught up in the nest, and finally, tangled around the chick.

Since then, Mr Goonan has kept an even closer eye on the family, as it was the first time in three years the Osprey pair had bred successfully.

Olive, standing on the railing of the Sundale Bridge pedestrian walkway, nest high above in the background in Southport on the Gold Coast Picture: Rowley Goonan's Wild Bird Rescues Gold Coast.

Olive’s failed first attempt at flying left her sitting on the Sundale Bridge walkway for three hours, being closely monitored by Mr Goonan.

He eventually decided to hold the chick up in the hope she’d fly off to her parents.

“If it’s their first flight these young birds are very vulnerable,” he told the Courier Mail.

“And a lot of them don’t make it.”

The three Osprey’s flew off down the Broadwater, but when the birds of prey later returned to the nest, Olive was not with them.

“To survive, she needed to return and be fed, but there was no sign. It didn’t look good,” Mr Goonan wrote on Facebook.

The next morning, Mr Goonan was told an osprey had been found in the Broadwater Parklands, about 500m from the nest, being attacked by other birds.

She had been picked up by a man and taken to a vet.

Mr Goonan said once Olive was checked over by the vet, he decided to put Olive back in her nest himself.

Olive (left), her mum in the middle and dad (right). Picture: Rowley Goonan's Wild Bird Rescues Gold Coast.

Workmen allowed Mr Goonan to perch the bird on a mobile lighting array.

They managed to raise it eight metres before other birds started to attack Olive, resulting in the young Osprey flying out over the Broadwater and dropping into the water.

“Seconds later the Aqua duck amphibious tourist vessel saw her too and drove over,” Mr Goonan wrote.

“A gutsy passenger plucked Olive from the water. At the same time, I hailed three young guys passing on a jet ski.

“I jumped aboard and was driven out to the Aqua duck where we collected one sopping wet osprey.”

A short time later, EWP Hire had agreed to provide a 40m cherry picker to Parklands Management and Olive was finally successfully returned to her nest.

Mr Rowley said Olive took her first successful flight alongside her mum about eight days later.

He said discarded fishing line continued to be a problem for wildlife.

In the past year, more than 58km of discarded line was collected by the Gold Coast’s Tackle Bin Project, encouraging anglers throw away their line responsibly.