General

Falcons return to North Omaha Station

Lewis and Clark, the peregrine falcons who make their spring and summer home at OPPD’s North Omaha Station, are back.

Clark made an appearance on the falcon webcam March 4, and the birds made separate visits to the nest on March 5.

Last year was a sad one for the falcons’ fans. Clark laid four eggs, but none of the chicks survived. The year before, two of four chicks survived, sisters Thunder and Lightning.

The pair had three chicks in 2020, daughters Storm and Flicker and son Flash. In 2021, they added four chicks to the family tree, three male falcons – Watt, Ohm and Ampere – and a female falcon, Volta.

Peregrine falcons can lay up to four eggs each year. The eggs typically take about 33 days to hatch.

Peregrine falcons’ family

Lewis and Clark continue a large – and long – line of peregrine falcons who originated from a pair that lived at the State Capitol in Lincoln for several years.

Clark and Lewis were born at the State Capitol in Lincoln in 2012. Observers thought Clark was male when she was banded.

Clark took up residence at the OPPD box in 2015, eventually settling down with a mate and hatching two chicks.

She got a new nest with a webcam in 2019. She and her brother (and current mate), Lewis, quickly began capturing the attention of raptor fans, and they now draw viewers from across the country and around the world.

Other raptors in the area

A Facebook group based in Lincoln, Peregrine Falcons Lincoln NE, follows the OPPD falcons, along with a single male who arrived at the Capitol in Lincoln last year, a pair at the WoodmenLife Tower in downtown Omaha, and a pair at an Envergy power plant in Kansas.

OPPD also hosts a pair of ospreys at Fort Calhoun Station. They typically arrive in early April, so soon it will be time to start keeping an eye on their webcam.