As children prepare to search for crème eggs and milk chocolate bunnies this weekend, the peregrine falcons at Wisconsin Public Service (WPS) and We Energies power plants already have full baskets of their own. A final total of 15 eggs are resting inside four separate nest boxes across Wisconsin. If conditions are just right, the first ‘peeps’ from newborn peregrine falcons could come at the end of this month.
WPS and We Energies are a part of a statewide effort to restore the peregrine falcon population. The Department of Natural Resources added peregrine falcons to Wisconsin’s endangered species list in the 1970s.
Since the first successful nest box in the mid-1990s, 402 peregrine falcons have hatched. The falcons are drawn to tall structures along Lake Michigan or major rivers, which make many of the We Energies and WPS facilities ideal nesting sites.
Keep an eye on the high-definition nest box cameras for the first signs of hatching.
Weston Power Plant
Rosalee and Sheldon are incubating four eggs at the WPS nest box in Rothschild. They’re expected to hatch between May 3 and 5.
Oak Creek Power Plant
Essity and Michael are incubating four eggs. They’re expected to hatch between May 3 and 5.
Port Washington Generating Station
Beasley and Brinn are incubating four eggs. Brinn laid five, but unfortunately, one broke. The remaining eggs are expected to hatch between April 28 and May 4.
Valley Power Plant
Hercules and his mate, an unbanded female, are incubating three eggs. They’re expected to hatch between May 6 and 11.
