WESTPORT — The call came in one evening in late July: bird down in the Westport River. Westport residents Dora and Trip Millikin were out for a sunset ride in a dory on the west branch of the river when they spotted the osprey floundering in the water at high tide. At 8 weeks old, the osprey was already impressive in its adult size, but not yet able to fly well, especially once wet.

The Millikins phoned David Cole, local bird enthusiast and long-time volunteer at Allens Pond Wildlife Sanctuary. Cole and his wife Betty Slade motored their boat out to the bird, which had made its way to the base of a nearby osprey platform. Cole reached out and picked up the chick, which promptly latched onto him.

“I had the bird in the boat and asked Betty to please remove the bird’s talons from my fingers.” They wrapped the osprey in a fleece and safely placed the bird in a carrier, then brought it home where it spent the night drying out in their guest cottage.

The next morning, director of Mass Audubon’s Allens Pond Wildlife Sanctuary Gina Purtell joined David and the bird in the skiff, “Lucky Me,” so named after Cole won it in a raffle sponsored by the Westport Fisherman’s Association. Cole has provided Allens Pond the use of the boat to conduct work on the river, including building and repairing osprey platforms, monitoring osprey chicks each spring, and tagging the juveniles just before they fledge.

“The band this chick had on its leg told us that it came from platform W12 so we knew exactly where to return it”, explained Purtell.

The hope was that the bird would reveal modest flying skills upon release. But when set down on the marsh, the bird glared at the team as if to say, “Are you kidding me?”, and so further assistance was provided.

Returning the chick to its home was not without its own challenges. As Purtell lifted the bird up to the platform, a young sibling still in the nest became startled and leapt into the water. Purtell chased the bird through the muddy marsh and before long both chicks were safely back home. An adult osprey was seen circling back to the nest and attended to his offspring as they dried off from their dunking.

The Westport River has a robust osprey population thanks in part to efforts made over the past 50 years to reestablish their numbers in the area. Today, Mass Audubon- Allens Pond maintains 80 osprey platforms in the Westport River and tracks the development and survival of birds that return year after year. The birds’ survival however, is not guaranteed. Of approximately 180 chicks that hatch each year on the river, only 50 can be expected to reach adulthood and attempt to raise their own broods. And while an adult bird has the potential to live over 20 years and produce three offspring most of those years, the vast majority of them do not succeed. Only the strongest and the lucky survive from one year to the next.

Late July and August are always crucial times for the chicks, which sometimes flee the nest too soon, leaving them vulnerable. While human interaction with the ospreys is discouraged (both for the safety of the bird and people) the Millikins’ outreach was fortuitous for one young bird, which otherwise might have perished. And the rare close-up experience with an osprey was particularly memorable for rescuer Dora Millikin. “I will never forget the eyes on that bird!”

Mass Audubon-Allens Pond offers osprey fans the opportunity to sponsor a nest platform, an osprey boat, or an intern for the summer. To learn more, go to the South Coast Osprey Project link at www.massaudubon.org/allenspond