The rescue of an osprey struggling in a canal was caught on camera during Wednesday's strong storms that rolled through the Space Coast.

  • Osprey spotted struggling in Merritt Island canal
  • Off-duty firefighter used pool net to scoop it up
  • Man said osprey came right to him

The video was shot in a canal behind the Merritt Island home of Damian Lizaso in the middle of the thunderstorm.

He and his wife, Mia, spotted an osprey caught in the downpour and struggling in the water. Lizaso grabbed his pool cleaning net and went to the edge of the canal and put it over the seawall.

Amazingly, the large bird saw him and made a beeline for Lizaso when it spotted him.

"It was getting weaker and weaker, as it was going back and forth, it was going side to side. As soon as it saw me, it came right to me, reached up with its talons and grabbed on and (I) fished him right out," Lizaso said.

Lizaso is an Osceola County firefighter who was off duty at the time. 

Melbourne's Wild Florida Rescue came to the home to get the osprey and is nursing it back to health.