I know that spring means melting snow, green grass, maple sap, and the season's first bare feet. But spring also means a floodtide of birds boiling up the Mississippi River valley to parts north. It was Tuesday, March 20th, and I was headed down river to Lansing, Iowa, to help install a peregrine nestbox. Little did I know that the spring migration was in full swing.

I had planned to come downriver on the Minnesota side and go back through Wisconsin, crossing at Winona. Although I was looking for peregrines, I expected to see some bald eagles - especially on Lake Pepin, which is famous for bald eagles. I didn't expect to see more bald eagles than anything except geese, ducks, and maybe gulls.

I began seeing large numbers of eagles near the mouth of Lake Pepin. At one point, I turned into a lake overlook and started counting eagles. Without really trying, I counted 20. 'Wow!' I thought 'Lake Pepin really does have a lot of eagles!' But Lake Pepin wasn't unique. Remember when Bald Eagles were really, really rare? As I headed downriver, I saw eagles sitting on ice, eagles perched in trees, eagles soaring over cliffs, eagles locking talons, and eagles sparring. I saw eagle nests. I saw adult eagles and immature eagles. I called people on my cell phone and babbled at them about the mind-boggling number of eagles I was seeing. Between the Highway 26 turn-off from 61 and New Albion, Iowa, I'll bet I saw over 50 eagles. I started counting about 2/3 of the way through the trip and got to 30. But I didn't see any peregrines until Lansing, IA, where Bob, Dave Kester, Tom Griffin, Maggie Jones, David Litton, and myself were all meeting at the Alliant Power plant to install a new nestbox on the cliff behind the stack.

This site has an interesting history. We first attracted falcons to a nestbox on the plant's stack. After two successful seasons, we mounted a nest box on a nearby cliff and removed the stack nest box. The falcons succeeded in producing young for two seasons in the cliff nest box. Then, in 2003 and 2004, they moved to a ledge, laid eggs and hatched young, which they lost to raccoon predation. They moved back to the stack and fledged young in 2005. They moved back to the cliff and lost their young again in 2006. This spring, the plant planned work at the stack during nesting season, so we decided to place a nestbox on the cliff and close the one on the stack.

Picture #1 shows Bob with the nestbox strapped to a backpack frame (picture by Maggie). The box is quite heavy! The rest of us are gathering up ropes, bags, equipment, and etc. to bring to the bluff. It is amazing how much equipment this takes. Fortunately, the cliff is a fairly easy stroll downhill and through a small woods. The last nestbox I helped install was a roughly 145-foot pull up the side of a watertower. This was easier.

Once we reached the spot, Bob and then Dave went down to check it out. Dave found a spot and Bob sent me down to take a look as well. Okay, we had a spot! It was quickly decided that Bob and Dave would install the box, I would hang overhead and pass equipment down in such a way that they would not be showered with falling rocks (a real danger on some of these cliffs), and Tom would rope up at the top and drop stuff over the first lip. Bob rigged a pulley to make dropping the box easier and safer for everyone involved, and we went to town.

Pictures #2 and 3 show Bob standing by the nestbox and Dave helping Tom get into a harness. Although Tom didn't come down on rope, Bob and Dave prefer everyone working near the edge to be harnessed and anchored.

Bob and Dave dropped over the edge and rappelled down to the chosen spot. I rappelled down to the halfway spot, and Tom, Maggie, and David began lowering the nestbox. The overhang was covered with rocks and dirt. Almost none of them were loose enough to simply be picked up and tossed out of harms way, but most of them could be jarred loose by, say, a heavy nestbox. We had to be quite careful to avoid dropping rocks and dirt on Dave and Bob - rocks especially are very, very dangerous. Picture #4 shows me muscling the box over a little overhand at the top. Note my lovely black snowsuit - it was cold on the cliff! Picture #5 shows Bob and Dave installing the box. Three bolts were easy. The fourth was the reason we went through two batteries.

Once the install was finished, I wanted to go down and take a picture of the box. Dave and I switched ropes. Dave discovered that I had a really, really bad rope bag. Note: old army-style backpack may not be acceptable substitute for actual rope bag. Must buy new bag! I took a picture of the cliff from the box, and Dave covered the old eyrie so the falcons couldn't use it. The ledge they had been nesting on was covered with raccoon tracks.

Once those tasks were completed, we picked up and headed down to the plant. We went up the stack and covered the front of the old nestbox so the falcons couldn't nest there, either. We all hope that providing the falcons with a new home, safe from racoons and out of the construction zone, will make this a productive spot for falcons once again.

On the way home, I saw falcons at Homer Bluff, just south of Winona, MN; Castle Rock, and one falcon at Maiden Rock. The falcons at Homer Bluff were quite exciting - Doug Wood spotted them here last year, but the site wasn't productive. We are hopeful it will be this year.

All in all - what a wonderful day! Falcons, eagles, friends, and a day on the cliffs - what could be better than that? I'm really looking forward to summer!

Amy Ries