Great River Energy Power Station
Elk River, Minnesota 
(
the nestbox photo is courtesy of RCF - thanks!)
General Information from GRE
The Great River Energy peregrine falcons are nesting on the roof of a building at GRE’s Elk River plant in Elk River, MN. This nest was first productive in 2007 and has produced 34 falcons to date (2018). The site is located next to the Mississippi river and is rich in food resources. The peregrines may or may not be present year-round, but the camera is usually off in the winter. In general, the falcons begin courtship between early and Mid-March and lay eggs between late March and mid-April. Hatch should begin in early to mid-May, fledge generally occurs 38-40 days after that, and young disperse in late August or mid-September. If one or both of the adults migrate, they leave in the late fall. Adult falcon pairs are not believed to migrate together. Peregrine falcons do not make stick nests. Instead, they make scrape nests on ledges and debris, and feed primarily on birds that they catch in the air. To learn more about peregrine falcons in general, please follow this link to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Peregrine_Falcon/id. To catch up on videos of Great River Energy, please visit our YouTube channel.Elk River Station is an energy-from-waste plant operating in Elk River, Minnesota that generates 35 to 42 megawatts of electrical power. The site was originally built as a coal and oil-fired facility in 1950, then construction began on a nuclear power plant (boiling water reactor) in 1959. The nuclear reactor was small (22 MW) and only operated from July 1, 1964 until February 1, 1968 before undergoing decommission and dismantlement in the following years, ending in the early 1970s. It resumed operating on coal and oil in 1968. In 1989, the facility was again converted, this time to use Refuse Derived Fuel or (RDF) for fuel. Municipal solid waste used to make RDF and is a renewable energy source. Waste arrives from Anoka, Benton, Hennepin, Sherburne, and Stearns counties, and the ash remaining after incineration is taken to a landfill in Becker, Minnesota.
2020 - The Great River Energy Elk River facility is being demolished. Brenda Geisler, our falcon caretaker, worked very hard to get the falcons a new nest box on a structure that GRE is building just for them.Website link:
www.raptorresource.org/great-river-energy-falcons Between 2007 and 2018, 34+ chicks have fledged from this location. There have been at least 7 different resident pairs since nesting here began.
Resident Pairs & Offspring:- 2019 - Brooklyn & Breezy --> 4 chicks (don't know how many fledged)
- 2018 - Brooklyn & Breezy --> 4 chicks
- 2017 - Brooklyn & Mary-Ellen --> 2 chicks
- 2016 - Brooklyn & Mary-Ellen --> no chicks
- 2015 - Brooklyn & Mary-Ellen --> 4 chicks
- 2014 - Sawatzke & Mary-Ellen --> 4 chicks
- 2013 - Sawatzke & Mary-Ellen --> Lucky (m) & Patricia (f)
- 2012 - Sawatzke & unbanded female --> Larissa (f) & Scout (f)
- 2011 - ? & Dot --> Wayne (m), Hanson (m), Elizabeth (f) & Skye (f)
- 2010 - ? & ? --> Henry (m), Journey (f), Falco (f) & Brooke (f)
- 2009 - ? & ? --> Roger (m), Royal (m), Edward (m) & Bella (f)
- 2008 - ? & ? --> Bullet (m), Chase (m) & Lightning (f)
- 2007 - ? & 30B --> Falcor (m), Dougie (m) & Jennie (f)
