2006 - Midwest Peregrine Falcon Restoration Project

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131. SP-Inland Steel (aka Mittal Steel – Indiana Harbor East), East Chicago, Lake County,
Indiana. This site has been active for at least 12 years, but monitoring is difficult because the nest
box cannot be accessed due to safety concerns and the adults are always quite distant. The adults
(left b/g on one, right b/g on the other) are likely here for the second year. Robert Page noted adults
entering the nest box as early as March 22nd. John Castrale observed two banded males interacting
aggressively on May 9th. Finally, on June 12th, three 5-week old chicks were perched at the nest box
with an adult nearby and likely fledged within the next week.
132. SP- Mittal Steel - Indiana Harbor West, East Chicago, Lake County, Indiana – New
Site (3rd year in use, but first report – two chicks reported fledged each in 2004 and 2005). Adults -
unidentified but at least one with a green band. At the end of the summer, John Castrale received a
call about possible solutions for falcons attacking workers at this steel plant. Although he had not yet
visited the site, descriptions by John Zellers convinced him that peregrines were nesting on an I-beam
on the BOF (Basic Oxygen Furnace) and three chicks fledged in 2006. Young unbanded falcons
have been retrieved in this area in previous years, but they were attributed to birds from nearby nest
sites at Cline Avenue and Inland Steel. A nest box will be installed during the winter.
133. LE- US Steel (pre-carb plant), Gary, Lake County, Indiana. New Site. Neither adult
was identified or even determined to be banded at this site. A pair and nest (3 eggs) in a soot-filled
gutter was first reported by Mark Happer on April 20th, 1 mile east of the nest at the sinter plant. The
nest abandoned by May 15th. Eggs were still present on May 23rd and both adults were observed
from a distance. A nest box was erected nearby in the fall.
[Kokomo Gas and Power, Kokomo, Howard County, Indiana. After the gas tower, where a
pair nested from 2001 to 2003, was imploded in the fall of 2003, a nest box was placed at the nearby
Daimler-Chrysler Plant. On June 5 th , 2006 various sites were checked but no sign of peregrines were
observed. A nest box at the Chrysler-Daimler plant was removed last year, according to John
Castrale.].
OHIO
Dave Scott, Ohio DNR, collected the Ohio peregrine information. In summary:
-Division of Wildlife staff and volunteers identified 20 pairs around the state, including a
new pair on the I-480 Bridge in southern Cuyahoga County
-Eighteen territorial pair nested (pairs in Lorain & at the I-480 Bridge were not known
to have nested this year)
-Nineteen nesting attempts were made by these 18 pairs (the 1 st nest by the Youngstown
pair failed; their 2 nd nest attempt was successful)
-Approximately 72 eggs were produced in 2006 (this is an estimate since we did not have
complete counts for two nesting attempts)
-Sixty-three eggs hatched
-Sixty-one chicks lived to three weeks of age and were banded