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An osprey perches on a flagpole near its nest at a high school athletic field Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025, in Apple Valley, Minn. (AP Photo/Mark Vancleave)

APPLE VALLEY, Minn. – The opening of the fall sports season at a Minnesota high school has been disrupted by a pair of ospreys that thought a light pole on the football field would be a perfect place to build a huge nest and raise their chicks.

As migratory birds, the raptors are protected under state and federal law. So officials at Apple Valley High School had to rearrange their football and soccer schedules, switching to day games instead of nights. Turning on the hot floodlights would have risked cooking the birds and starting a fire.

The school's teams, which just ha

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