Four peregrine falcon chicks were retrieved from a nesting box on top of Great River Energy’s scrubber stack after hatching June 19 and 20.
Bob Anderson of Raptor Resource and Great River Energy administrative assistant Brenda Hoskyns went up in a cherry picker to get the chicks.
Once on the ground they banded two females and two males, recording the information on the birds that included names, sex and weight.
The two males were named Wayne and Hanson after Great River employee Wayne Hanson who recently died after a sudden illness.
Salk Middle School students named the females. They had been following the nesting site via an online Web cam.
Skye was chosen for one female, while Hoskyns named the other Elisabeth after Salk student Elisabeth King, who was present to witness the banding.
Nearly three weeks old at the time of the banding, the female chicks weighed approximately 24 ounces and the males slightly less.
This year’s chicks are a month later than usual.
The original nesting female had laid four eggs, but she was killed by an unknown predator and her eggs went unattended while the male sought a new mate.
Those eggs, no longer viable, had to be removed from the nest once the male returned with a new female.
So far, 17 falcons have fledged from the Elk River Great River Energy nesting site.
Star News
