Four falcons hatch atop MGE power plant
MGE has a video camera installed inside the peregrine falcon nesting box atop its Blount Generating Station just east of downtown Madison. We regularly post video clips of the falcons during the nesting season. The video posted here is the most recent. Please check back for future video clips. Click the "Recent 2011 falcon updates" link below to see previous video clips from this season.
MGE installed the nesting box in 1999. After 10 years of vacancy, falcons first began using the box in 2009. At that time, the parent birds (Frightful, the mother, and Vern, the father) produced three chicks. Last year saw four falcons hatch and fledge from the nesting box. Now, in 2011, Frightful and Vern have returned and laid four eggs again. All four successfully hatched over the Mother's Day weekend and have been named Mendota, Monona, Waubesa and Wingra.
Saturday, June 18, 2011: After a few approaches and wing tests, the last of the Blount Station falcons fledges, flying from the nesting box in the early morning. Only the first and last falcon fledges were captured on video during daylight hours, with all fledging occurring within a span of roughly 36 hours.
- Peregrine falcons are listed as endangered in Wisconsin due
to pesticide use in the 1960s. The birds were reintroduced in Wisconsin during the 1980s. - The falcons are attracted to Blount Station and other utility sites by the secure nesting height and limited disturbance provided by power plants.
- As of 2010, nearly half of the state's known nesting sites
have been at power plants, collectively averaging about
40 new chicks during each
of the past two years.
Learn more about falcons:
- A Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources expert explains how the falcon parents teach the young to fly.
- A National Geographic video shows the amazing speed and skill of adult falcons in the air.
- Learn more about Wisconsin falcons with "Wisconsin Falconwatch 2010" [2.0 MB PDF] published by falcon expert Greg Septon.
