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Watch rare peregrine falcons live on Sault Ste. Marie bridge camera

The International Bridge Administration of the Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge recently installed a camera aimed at a nesting box that bridge officials installed for the birds to use in a place where they had already been nesting for years.
A peregrine falcon seen through a live camera recently installed at the Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge(Photo: International Bridge Administration)

Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. - Peregrine falcons are rarely seen in Michigan, but a live close-up view is available on a "falcon cam" installed at the Sault Ste. Marie Bridge.

A pair of peregrine falcons — a bird on Michigan's list of endangered species — has been nesting beneath the roadway on the U.S. side of the bridge since at least 2010, hatching 24 chicks since that time.

The International Bridge Administration of the Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge recently installed a camera aimed at a nesting box that bridge officials installed for the birds to use in a place where they had already been nesting for years.

The camera can be accessed online 24-7 at http://www.saultbridge.com/falcam.

Peter Petainen, general manager for the bridge administration, said the best times to see activity in the nesting box are between 5:30 and 8 a.m and between 5 and 8 p.m.

The birds normally lay eggs in mid-April, and once that happens the mother will be in the nesting box pretty much constantly until the eggs hatch about two to three weeks later, said Karl Hansen, the bridge engineer.

Peregrine falcons were just about wiped out in Michigan in the 1960s and '70s because of the use of DDT and other contaminants. But they've been making a comeback in recent years and officials now estimate Michigan has about 40 falcon pairs, with one to two new pairs discovered annually.

Bridge officials like having the peregrine falcons around because they prey on pigeons, whose droppings contribute to bridge corrosion.

"They are the fastest animals on earth," Hansen said. "They will dive at 200 miles per hour and hit a pigeon in mid-air."

The birds migrate to the Caribbean for the winter.

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4.

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