For the Birds: Nesting Osprey Causes Wareham Outage, Eversource Says

WAREHAM — A power outage that saw hundreds of households in Wareham lose power before 8 a.m. Wednesday was caused by a nesting osprey, an Eversource spokesman told WBSM News.

Outages were reported in Wareham after 6 a.m., at one point affecting more than 880 households, according to the utility company's outage map.

The issue was resolved by 9 a.m., according to Eversource representative Chris McKinnon.

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McKinnon said that utility crews responded to Narrows Road just before 6:30 a.m. for the reported outages.

They arrived to find that a nesting osprey had damaged equipment by dropping a branch onto the power lines, according to McKinnon.

"Once the area was made safe, crews inspected the damage and found the beginnings of an osprey nest on our equipment," he stated.

Crews removed the nest following environmental regulations to protect both the bird of prey and the utility company's equipment.

Repairs were completed and power restored to affected Wareham residents later this morning.

McKinnon said that over the past several months, the company has worked with municipalities, environmental experts, and community groups to prepare for osprey nesting season.

Eversource customers can report a nest on the company's website, he added.