The East Bend coal handling transfer site in northern Kentucky placed a box constructed by the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife back in 2007.
The hope was to encourage birds to nest there. They got their wish about a year later when two peregrine falcons started calling it home in December 2008. In May of this year, two of three eggs hatched.
The idea came from maintenance employee Mike Laytart. He is impassioned with wildlife and thought the birds of prey nesting at the facility would help control other animals that could pose potential problems.
Laytart said, "Vultures are something they kind of keep away from their nest and pigeons are their food source. That's what they get and they catch to feed young."
The plant named the birds for their plant, "Steamy" and "Bender."
The falcons were tagged by the Kentucky department of Fish and Wildlife in June. Duke Energy is excited about the hatchlings because this is the only time peregrine falcons nested and reproduced at this particular location.
