Eclipse, a 3-year-old
peregrine falcon, was in trouble.
The bird had found its
way into a water treatment building at the WE Energies Oak Creek Power Plant.
Perched in the
building's rafters, the bird had shown no inclination to fly down and out open
doors.
"They're basically
trapped once they get inside," said Greg Septon of Muskego, one of the
nation's leading falcon researchers.
No one knows when the
female falcon flew into the building. At least four days had passed since it
was first observed inside.
But as to the
"why," Septon said Eclipse was probably following its favorite meal -
a pigeon.
Septon decided to use
the same lure to get it out.
Called to the site on
Oct. 30 to help extricate the peregrine, Septon looked but found no pigeons in
the building. It seemed the falcons had been doing a very good job of keeping
the local "rock dove" population in check.
Eclipse raised three
chicks in a nest on one of the stacks at the Oak Creek site this year with her
mate, Scott.
So Septon turned to Jim
Kitzman of Oak Creek, a falconer who also keeps racing pigeons.
Kitzman lent Septon one
of his high-end homing birds.
"He was leery, but
in the end gave me one with the understanding I would do all I could to keep it
alive," Septon said.
The pigeon had soft
leather anklets, or jesses, attached.
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