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Peregrine Falcons and Osprey Return to Three Mile Island

Peregrine falcons and osprey have returned to their nests this spring at the Three Mile Island Generating Station in Londonderry Township, Dauphin County.

The peregrine falcon nest is on the Unit 1 reactor building and has produced young peregrines. The osprey nest is atop a meteorological tower and, for the first time, a second pair of osprey has nested south of the plant.

This spring marks the sixth straight year that the peregrines have nested at TMI and the fourth year for the osprey.

The peregrine falcon is widely known as the world's fastest flying bird. In Pennsylvania, peregrines nested on rocky cliffs overlooking the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers until about 1950. This species declined during the mid-1900s in the United States primarily because of DDT contamination.

The peregrine falcon is listed by the Game Commission as an endangered species.Over the past six years, the falcons at TMI have produced about a dozen offspring.

The Osprey is a fish-eating bird that is more than 20 inches long with a five and half foot wingspan. It has mainly white underparts and head, apart from a dark mask through the eye, and fairly uniformly brown upperparts.

Three Mile Island has notified the Game Commission and Department of Environmental Protection of the presence of the birds.

There are currently 20 nesting pairs of peregrine falcons present in Pennsylvania. Besides the pair on the reactor, pairs are present on several river bridges in the Philadelphia area, and in Harrisburg, Wilkes-Barre and Pittsburgh. The recovery of the peregrine is one of wildlife conservation's major success stories.


4/27/2007

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