falconspace

A project that started as the solution to a problem has turned to fascination for workers at the New Madrid Power Plant.

New Madrid, Mo. - infoZine - A coal-fired power plant seems an unlikely place to find living symbols of wild nature, but that's how it is in this Missouri Bootheel town. The story of how a 1,200-megawatt power plant became home to a succession of peregrine falcons has its roots in a problem.

One of David Childers' jobs as materials management supervisor for the Associated Electric Coop's New Madrid Power Plant is to oversee pest-control. So, when pigeons took up residence there, multiplied out of control and began leaving runny white calling cards all over the plant, it became a problem he had to deal with.

And a tough problem it was. The size of the facility and the height of some of its structures made pigeon control next to impossible. Then Childers got a creative idea from Associated Electric's Director of Power Production, Duane Highley, in Springfield. Why not get falcons, which eat pigeons and other birds, to take care of the problem?

Highley had heard about other power plants along the Mississippi River combining conservation and pigeon management with good results. Childers, who is an avid outdoorsman, took the idea and ran with it. He personally built a nest box and had a maintenance crew mount it on the plant's emissions stack 27 stories up, hoping a passing falcon would spy the box, see the pigeons and-putting two and two together-find a nice girl falcon to settle down with him.

That was in 2001. When, after three years, the box still stood empty, Childers enlisted the Missouri Department of Conservation's assistance. Before long, Childers, his workers and Conservation Agent Rodney Ivie were playing nursemaids to four peregrine falcon hatchlings purchased from a breeder in Idaho.

The first clutch of three males and one female falcon survived. They never seemed entirely comfortable in their new home, though. They soared around the power plant for a few weeks after being released, but eventually all drifted away.

Some people might have been discouraged, but Childers and the rest of the New Madrid Power Plant staff were hooked. They had gotten to watch four of the world's most amazing predators grow from gawky infants to supreme rulers of the sky. They sparred in midair before spellbound audiences at break time. They were seen giving chase to a variety of birds.

The pigeons, understandably, were less enthusiastic. They made themselves scarce while the falcons were about.

Determined to secure the pigeon-discouraging services of a permanent falcon family, Childers and Co. brought in another group of four falcon chicks this year. The birds-another set of three males and one female-arrived in mid-June. By the end of the month they were entertaining power plant workers with displays of aerial prowess.

On a typical day, they workers look out the window and see a pair of young peregrine falcons grasping each other's talons in flight just outside plant windows, making forays over the Mississippi River or perched atop an 800-foot smokestack.

The power plant is, once again, not safe for pigeons. Four growing falcons are switching their voracious appetites from dead quail provided by their human surrogate parents to birds they catch on the wing.

Childers says he is optimistic about one of this year's falcon brood staying put.

"We gave these birds a few more days before we released them. The falcon project team is a lot more experienced now, and we have met the chicks' needs a little better. I have a good feeling that these birds have imprinted on the power plant. There is always a chance that last year's birds can still return with a mate, so now we have eight good chances for a permanent nesting pair here in the Bootheel.

Childers said the benefits of the falcon program go beyond pigeon control. At first, power plant employees were lukewarm to the idea of falcon restoration, but that changed dramatically when the birds arrived. As they grew and eventually took to the air, New Madrid Power Plant workers found themselves united in fascination with the birds.

"This is something that goes beyond our daily work routine," said Childers. "It's more than megawatts. The involvement in environmental stewardship is something we are all proud of. People stop you at church, in the grocery store or just about anywhere and ask 'How are the falcons doing.' It shows a commitment from Associated Electric to strive to maintain and improve the environment while providing an economical, reliable power supply to rural electric cooperatives. We've done that, so much so that once-endangered peregrine falcons can live within our plant site."

So, what began as a way of controlling pest pigeons has become a four-year walk on the wild side. Work will never be the same for Associated Electric employees who now watch the sky around the New Madrid Power Plant with a new sense of wonder.

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