Port peregrine falcon couple have four eggs to care for this spring

Port Washington’s resident peregrine falcon Brinn laid the first egg of the year at the We Energies nesting boxes, the utility announced on March 22.

Brinn and her mate Beasley, who nest  atop the Port power plant, have since produced three more eggs.

Brinn was hatched in 2012 at Gold Hoist Cliff at Split Rock Park, in Minnesota. This is her seventh year nesting in Port Washington.

Beasley was hatched at the We Energies Milwaukee County power plant in Wauwatosa in 2014. This is his fourth year at the Port nesting site.

The couple produced four eggs last year, but only three hatched.

Peregrine falcons were added to the Wisconsin endangered species list in the 1970s. We Energies has been placing nesting boxes at its power plants because the falcons are drawn to tall structures along Lake Michigan and major rivers. The first eggs hatched in the mid-1990s.

Since then, 402 falcons have hatched at We Energies’ plants — including 66 in Port Washington since 2000.

We Energies has nesting cameras at its nesting sites people can use to view the peregrines. Visit www.wecenergygroup.com/environment/falcons to access the cameras.