Pardon The Intrusion

On a yearly basis personnel from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources rides a tiny elevator  some 400 feet up the interior of a smoke stack at Miami Fort Power Station. Once reaching that level they remove the chicks from the nest that has outside and inside access. The young bird's parents are none too happy with this intrusion and buzz the nest at incredible speed. The chicks are carried to a ground level office where they are banded and introduced to a few schoolchildren.It makes for "cute" pictures. I chose to take the elevator ride and try for the adult birds. This photograph from May 25, 2005 is the result.© Melvin Grier