Peregrine falcon returns to nest in Waukegan
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A falcon chick that hatched on 2012 with a band placed by biologists from the Field Museum of Natural History. For its 11th consecutive year, Fran, the Peregrine Falcon returned this year to her nest located on the rooftop of the Waukegan Station of Midwest Generation. Courtesy of Armando Tejada |
Submitted by Armando Tejada
Midwest Generation's Waukegan Station is once again hosting Peregrine falcon, Fran, who has returned for 11 straight years to her rooftop nest during the spring to lay her eggs.
By the start of May, Fran had already laid three eggs and was patiently waiting for her hatchlings to arrive in about one month.
Fran's visits have been a success since 2001, thanks to employees at Midwest Generation who built a box to protect the nest from wind and rain. When the falcon chicks hatch, Midwest Generation works with the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago to band the legs of the newly born chicks, giving them an identification number which can be used to monitor their movements. These bands are placed on the leg of the baby falcons by certified scientists from the Field Museum. To date, more than 40 baby falcon chicks have hatched.
Because of programs like the one at the Waukegan Station, the Peregrine falcon is no longer on the endangered species list. To continuously help reduce its impact on wildlife that live near its facilities, Midwest Generation manages several endangered species protection programs for the Piping plover and the Hine's emerald dragonfly.
Waukegan Station has an electric generating capacity of 689 megawatts, enough to meet the average needs of about 689,000 homes. The station employs 122 men and women, about 34 percent of whom are represented by Local 15 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. The station has continuously reduced emissions of major pollutants since being acquired by Midwest Generation in 1999 and in 2008 became one of the first power plants in the country to install new technology to reduce emissions of mercury.
To view Fran and her eggs in real time, visit www.earthcam.com/usa/illinois/midwestgen.
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