April 21,2015
VERNON — A rare falcon has found a permanent home on a nuclear power plant smokestack.
Employees at Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station have played an active role in creating and maintaining a home for peregrine falcons, the Brattleboro Reformer reported.
The falcon is listed as state-threatened in New Hampshire, and Vermont has roughly 40 pairs across the state.
Employees of the now-closing plant became aware of the falcons in 2009 after receiving a call from a New Hampshire Audubon biologist. Employees received permission from management to install a nest box on the smokestack, built by Steve Skibniowski, a longtime Yankee employee who now serves as a consultant at the plant. Audubon experts sent him the plans for a wooden box with an open front and a special perch.
“I’m surprised it’s held up as well as it has, because it’s very severe weather up there,” he said.
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