DNR question of the week

[Lee Borgersen]

          DNR QUESTION OF THE WEEK

 ....
Q: I understand that two peregrine falcons have returned to a nest box on top of the Bremer Bank Building in St. Paul. Is this the same pair that was there last year?

A:   The female is the same as last year, but unfortunately biologists have not seen the male, Sota, who was fledged 18 years ago from a nest near the Minnesota River. We suspect Sota died over the winter. He and his partner, Jill, had spent nine years raising young together. Jill is 10 years old and was fledged from a box at the high bridge in St. Paul. This will be her 10th year at this box. She and Sota raised 28 chicks together. A new male started coming around and Jill has laid three eggs. Biologists have not been able to identify the male yet. 

A live camera inside the nest box was paid for by donations to the nongame checkoff. Now the public can watch them lay their eggs and raise their young in real-time.
 
Watch them live: http://webcams.dnr.state.mn.us/falcon/