For Xcel Energy, saving falcons is not for the birds

For 20 years, experts at the Allen S. King Plant have worked to save the once-endangered peregrine falcon.

By JENNA GIBSON, Stillwater Gazette

Last update: June 13, 2009 - 9:36 PM

OAK PARK HEIGHTS - Four hundred feet above Xcel Energy's Allen S. King Plant, a mother peregrine falcon squawked loudly, diving at the unwanted visitors disturbing her nest.

Despite the objections of the mother raptor, the energy provider works every year to restore what was once a dwindling species.

Experts have been monitoring falcons at the King Plant for 20 years, ever since Xcel employees caught a glimpse of the rare birds nesting on the stack. At the time, there had only been three confirmed pairs of peregrines in Minnesota.

Now, keeping falcon boxes at power plants is a trend that has spread throughout the world, said Patti Nystuen, an Xcel media relations representative.

This year, energy companies with programs similar to Xcel's are expecting to welcome the Midwest's 1,000th hatchling, she said.

On a recent morning, Bob Anderson, director of the Raptor Resource Project, brought three young falcons down from the plant's smokestack, where a narrow metal walkway provides access to a falcon nesting area.

Anderson and others then banded the baby falcons and took blood in front of a class of Falcon Heights fourth-graders who had been following the growth of the eyasses, or falcon chicks.

The youngsters had crowded into an entryway at the plant as Anderson retrieved the falcons, hoping for a good view of the banding and the chance to pet the fluffy white chicks.

"They're excited beyond words," said Joyce Heille, their teacher at Falcon Heights Elementary. "They have a sort of passion [for the falcons] ... kids are just attracted to animals."

The class has been using new SMART Board technology to watch the falcons in the classroom via a live webcam on Xcel's website, Heille said.

It was the nest's yearly check, the only time during the year that the falcons are disturbed, Anderson said.

After winning a company raffle that benefited the United Way, Mary Lewis, a manager at Xcel, got the opportunity to name the three eyasses. She decided to call the birds Alida, Madison and Alex, after her nieces and nephew.

Now in her 25th year at Xcel, Lewis said she has been following the falcon program since its inception.

"It's super cool," she said. "I think this is one of the best things we do."

About a half-hour after Anderson brought the three young birds down from their aerie, he and Lewis headed back up the stack to return the babies to their mother. As he carried the falcons in a blue plastic tub toward the stack, some of the Falcon Heights students followed, begging to pet the fuzzy hatchlings one last time.

After a short ride in a cramped elevator, Anderson slowly walked around the tower toward the nest as the mother and father falcon swooped nearby. As soon as he replaced the eyasses, the mother settled down by the nest, continuing to screech until the intruders had retreated.

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