Environmental Stewardship
G&T in Falcon Drama
The latest chapter of the annual Peregrine falcon migration at a Dairyland Power Cooperative power plant has taken a tragic turn.
Dairyland Power Co-op continues to work on Peregrine falcon nesting. (Photo By: Dairyland Power Co-op)
The chicks and their mother, Scooter, were likely killed last month during a territorial dispute with a younger female Peregrine, say officials at the La Crosse, Wis., G&T.
No one knows what happened—no remains have been found—because the live Bird Cam at the nesting box doesn’t capture and keep images, said the co-op’s Katie Thomson.
Bird Cam followers first noticed the disappearance in mid-May, several months after Scooter’s annual return to the G&T’s Genoa plant to lay her eggs.
“The chicks were probably picked off by predators; they were very young,” said Thomson. “It’s always possible that Scooter admitted defeat and left. But generally parents will fight to the death for their chicks.”
What is known is this: The new lady of the house now resides in the nesting box with the long-time resident male. “It will be interesting to see if the pair returns next spring,” Thomson said.
The staff has dubbed the new resident “Jezebel.” You can view other falcons, such as the one above, on the G&T’s Bird Cam at the Dairyland site.