A bird watcher saw the stuck bird Thursday evening and began making phone calls. Eventually, word got to the Pennsylvania Game Commission and the company that owns the cell tower. That company called its maintenance contractor in West Berlin, New Jersey, and asked for help.
The workers arrived on the scene at about 2 a.m. Friday. They took about 90 minutes to climb the tower, unhook the osprey's talon from the metal, get the bird in a canvas bag and lower it to a wildlife conservation officer.
The bird was checked out and freed hours later.