NIPSCO — Environmental

Falcon Cam

The image above refreshes every 10 seconds. The first recorded nesting of the peregrine falcon in recent times in Indiana occurred in 1989 beneath the Cline Avenue overpass in East Chicago. Since then, the story of the peregrine's recovery in our state has been a series of successes which to date have led to the establishment of 12 breeding pairs and a total of more than 230 young falcons fledged from nests located on everything from smokestacks to skyscrapers. The peregrine was removed from the federal list of endangered species in 1999, marking quite an accomplishment for biologists and volunteers who have worked to bring back a species which had virtually disappeared from most of its range in the United States. Peregrines have nested in a box high on the Unit 14 stack at R.M. Schahfer Generating Station since 1998, fledging 20 young during that time. The female, Latesha, was fledged in 1999 at a power plant in Genoa, Wisconsin, and has nested at Schahfer since 2001. Her mate, Rollin, was fledged at U.S. Steel in Gary, Indiana in 1996 and has nested in Wheatfield since 1998. Latesha is Rollin's third mate in the eight years that she has nested at Schahfer Station If all goes well again this year, look for eggs in the nest by early to mid April with chicks hatching about 29-33 days later. Here are some images from last year: