Where are they now?: Bucky

It’s time to jump around! In what has to be a good omen for Wisconsin Badgers fans, the peregrine falcon named “Bucky” has been spotted in Appleton. 

Bucky was one of four chicks born at the Port Washington Generating Station in May 2013. The very next year, the Badgers made it to the Final Four. (We’ll let you decide if that’s a coincidence.😉)

The now 7-year-old falcon has been recently spotted at the College Avenue Bridge in Appleton. Photographer Bruce Danz took this photo and kindly gave us permission to use it here. 

It’s always rewarding to see our peregrines doing well in the wild, but we never know when we’ll get lucky like this. Bucky left Port Washington eight years ago, and we hadn’t heard anything about him since! Danz was able to identify Bucky by the identification band we placed on his leg as a nestling.

Stay tuned for the start of the 2021 peregrine falcon nesting season later this month. If everything goes well, we’ll meet a brand-new class of chicks and watch them hatch, grow and fly away. 

Peregrine falcon program

We Energies and Wisconsin Public Service (WPS) are honored to be a part of a statewide effort to restore the peregrine falcon population. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources added peregrine falcons to the state’s endangered species list in the 1970s.

Since our first successful nest in the mid-90s, 410 peregrine falcons have hatched at our facilities. The falcons are drawn to tall structures along Lake Michigan or major rivers, which make many of the We Energies and WPS facilities ideal nesting sites.

This program is another way We Energies and WPS are building a bright, sustainable future. From helping endangered animals and restoring natural habitats, to building new solar facilities and reducing carbon emissions, we are committed to a cleaner future.