General

New falcons, ospreys find homes at Nebraska City, North Omaha

Add at least four more winged tenants to the list of predator birds who have found homes at OPPD.

Workers confirmed recently that two peregrine falcons have settled into a new spot at OPPD’s Nebraska City Station, overlooking the Missouri River.

Inside a nesting box are at least two eggs.

At OPPD’s North Omaha Station, which is already home to a famous falcon couple, two new ospreys arrived this spring and established a nest atop a power pole.

The new falcons and ospreys join a group of OPPD birds that includes Lewis and Clark and their many chicks at North Omaha Station, plus two other ospreys at Fort Calhoun Station.

The ospreys at Fort Calhoun Station have laid at least three eggs of their own this year.

“It’s pretty awesome how these birds have made themselves at home on our OPPD properties,” said James Thiele, OPPD’s Wildlife & Natural Resources Program manager.

A beneficial relationship

Lewis and Clark, who are siblings and mates, have produced at least nine surviving chicks since 2020. You can watch the birds live on their YouTube channel. It’s possible, though unconfirmed, that one or more of the new arrivals at Nebraska City Station are their offspring. Workers built a special nesting box at Nebraska City Station last year.

“I was pretty shocked to open the box up and see eggs,” said Kyle Schroeder, maintenance program specialist at Nebraska City Station.

All of Lewis and Clark’s chicks were banded and given a tracking number to help observe them in the wild, but OPPD employees have kept their distance from the nesting box at Nebraska City to avoid disturbing the new eggs, so they don’t yet know whether either of the new residents descended from Lewis and Clark.

The ospreys at Fort Calhoun Station have produced chicks in each of the last two years, and anyone who wants a see the latest batch need only keep their eyes on a separate YouTube page.

At Nebraska City Station, the nesting box provides several benefits. The falcons get a safe habitat, and they also help OPPD.

A pigeon problem

For years, Nebraska City Station has struggled with a pigeon problem: Pigeons poop. A lot. So much, in fact, that it has created a safety hazard for some workers.

The pigeons congregate in an area near several warm, insulated pipes where OPPD workers occasionally have to make repairs. There, they leave their droppings and create a slipping hazard. Recently, a hired contractor removed around 500 pounds of bird feces from the area.

Last year, OPPD’s previous wildlife specialist, Chris Vrtiska, spotted a falcon hanging around the plant. Falcons are, of course, natural predators of pigeons, and will help control their population.

The new falcon box

Schroeder said plant officials contacted their counterparts at North Omaha Station, which has had a box in place since 2015. Before he retired, Vrtiska shared some ideas about where to place one at Nebraska City Station.

Officials considered one of the plant’s steam stacks, but that area had too much traffic. Instead, they picked the roof of Unit 2, in a parapet wall facing east. Steamfitters installed the box last fall.

After seeing that Clark had laid eggs at North Omaha Station recently, Schroeder ventured up to the roof of Nebraska City Station out of curiosity.

As of last week, the nest had two eggs. Workers at the plant are staying clear for now to avoid scaring the falcons before any eggs hatch.

Thiele ventured down to the plant to see if he could spot the parents and see whether they are banded – and if so, whether any of them are Lewis and Clark’s offspring. Doing so is tough, however, because there are few good vantage points to see the birds without getting close and potentially disturbing them. Thiele said he plans to keep trying anytime he visits Nebraska City Station.