Author Topic: MN / Elk River - 2008-22  (Read 397065 times)

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Offline The Peregrine Chick

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MN / Elk River - 2022 / Brooklyn & Breezy
« Reply #3598 on: March 05, 2022, 23:44 »
2022 NESTING SEASON

From our friends at GRE ....

March 23, 2022

Great River Energy’s long-term peregrine falcon residents returned in late February to the Elk River, Minnesota, nest box. Brooklyn, the male, returned for an eighth year and Breezy (pictured), the female, returned for a fifth year.  With the help of an Eagle Scout and the Raptor Resource Project, Great River Energy first installed the nesting box in 2006 atop Elk River Energy Recovery Station. The nest box was relocated in early 2020 to a platform above the native prairie on Great River Energy’s Elk River campus. Since 2006, 46 young falcons have fledged from the Elk River location. 


I only know that Brooklyn & Breezy had 4 chicks last year but nothing on outcomes ...

Offline bcbird

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Re: MN / Elk River - 2020 / ? & ?
« Reply #3597 on: June 13, 2020, 16:07 »
Thanks for the updates here, TPC. 
The Elk River nest box had been one of the non Manitoba sites I liked to follow. 

Offline The Peregrine Chick

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Re: MN / Elk River - 2020 / ? & ?
« Reply #3596 on: June 12, 2020, 22:44 »
From the Raptor Resource website:

This year’s female is once again Breezy 31/P, joined by her mate Brooklyn 65/M. The two are nesting on a tower built especially for them by Great River Energy. The camera is not live at this time.

Egg Laying
Egg #1: March 28, 2020 @ 7:00 AM
Egg #2: March 30, 2020 @ 4:47 PM
Egg #3: April 2, 2020 @ 7:20 AM
Egg #4: April 2, 2020 @4:57 pm

Hatch is expected to begin around May 5


There weren't any additional updates on the website - if the chicks did hatch about May 5th they should be fledging or about to fledge shortly now ...

Offline The Peregrine Chick

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Re: MN / Elk River - 2020 / ? & ?
« Reply #3595 on: June 12, 2020, 22:39 »
For those that may be interested in a little background about WTF plants and why the GRE Elk River plant is being decommissioned ...

Minnesota WTE plant closing after county turns down offer to buy for one dollar
Cole Rosengren / Waste Dive / 26 Nov 2018

Great River Energy (GRE) plans to close the Elk River Resource Recovery Project in Minnesota, as reported by MPR News, due to financial challenges caused in part by declining energy revenues. This includes a 1,000 ton-per-day refuse-derived fuel operation, a 29 MW power plant and an ash landfill.
The utility had approached multiple counties, including Hennepin and Anoka, about potentially purchasing the site. Sherburne County, the final option, decided against it during a Nov. 20 meeting. Even with GRE offering the facility for $1 and promising to cover any potential closure costs through 2020, the lack of necessary tonnage was a primary deal breaker.
With the region's other WTE facilities largely operating at capacity, an estimated 250,000 tons per year of waste is now expected to end up in one of four area landfills. The Star-Tribune previously reported this may shorten their average remaining permitted lifespan to six years.
Dive Insight:

The Elk River site has been processing waste into RDF since a 1989 retrofit and GRE took over the full operation in 2010. GRE, a cooperative, recognized this presented an "extremely unusual decision" for the county and appears to have made the deal as favorable as possible. In addition to the $1 sale price – along with the assumption of $5.4 million worth of closure expenses and $4 million in employee severance through the end of 2020 – it also offered a two-year power purchase agreement weighted in the county's favor.

Yet the facility needs 320,000 tons per year to remain financially viable and has seen its incoming stream steadily decrease since at least 2013. According to documents provided to the Sherburne County Board of Commissioners, only 140,000 tons were guaranteed by GRE during its proposed two-year bridge period. In a memo evaluating the proposal, the county's solid waste administrator wrote that “unless additional guaranteed tonnage are secured in writing, this project will lose money," and "result in fiscal loss to the county."

That same memo also recognized “the overall benefits of processing solid waste rather than relying on indiscriminate land disposal is undisputed,” in keeping with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's (MPCA) waste recovery hierarchy. According to the Energy Recovery Council, the state has seven other active WTE facilities. GRE won an operating contract for one of those sites, owned by Hennepin County, over incumbent Covanta in 2016.

Following the EPA's own national hierarchy, MPCA recently went so far as to start enforcing a decades-old law requiring waste go to WTE facilities with slack capacity, such as GRE's Elk River site, rather than to area landfills. Waste Management (which owns three of the four local landfills) and Republic Services (which owns the fourth) sued, and the matter is pending appeal. Meanwhile, Waste Management plans to begin exporting tonnage from one local site in Burnsville out of state in advance of shrinking capacity.

While Minnesota handles a larger portion of its waste via WTE than landfills, this is not the national norm. Outside of select regions, WTE is still the minority option, and new or expanded projects remain challenging for a host of political reasons. GRE's Elk River facility will now join a list of at least three others — in California, New Jersey and Florida — that have announced closure plans in 2018.

Offline RCF

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Re: MN / Elk River - 2020 / ? & ?
« Reply #3594 on: March 03, 2020, 18:56 »
Employees install nest box for falcons

February 14, 2020
Work to provide a new home to the peregrine falcons who usually nest at Elk River Energy Recovery Station has begun.

With decommissioning of the Elk River power plant underway, employees chose a new site for the falcons to return to for their typical nesting period from mid-February through March, depending on weather patterns.

Line technicians from Great River Energy’s Big Lake transmission service center set a pole with a platform, nest box and camera on a hill atop the cooperative’s native prairie, adjacent to the power plant.

The project’s next phase of work involves getting the camera that will monitor the falcons’ nesting activities operational. After this is completed, the falcons are expected to occupy the nest box.

The Elk River Energy Recovery Station was taken out of service in 2019 and is being decommissioned.


https://greatriverenergy.com/employees-install-nest-box-for-falcons/

Offline The Peregrine Chick

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MN / Elk River - 2020 / ? & ?
« Reply #3593 on: February 24, 2020, 16:14 »
2020 NESTING SEASON

Looks like there won't be a cam in Elk River this year ... from their website ...

The Great River Energy Elk River facility is being demolished. Brenda Geisler, our falcon caretaker, worked very hard to get the falcons a new nest box on a structure that GRE is building just for them. However, the site does not have a camera right now and will be offline for 2020. We are looking into ways to return the livestream, which, thanks to Brenda and IT specialist Tamara, was one of our first.

Offline dupre501

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Offline GCG

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Re: Minnesota / Elk River - 2016 / Brooklyn & Mary Ellen
« Reply #3591 on: May 12, 2016, 05:59 »
This is indeed sad to hear. Thanks for sharing, RCF!

Offline RCF

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Re: Minnesota / Elk River - 2016 / Brooklyn & Mary Ellen
« Reply #3590 on: May 11, 2016, 18:05 »
MAY 11, 2016:

We are sad to report that we do not expect the peregrine falcon eggs in the nest box to hatch as they are long overdue. Several factors could lead to this type of outcome; they could have frozen during an early-spring cold period or they could be infertile. It is Great River Energy’s policy to not interfere with the natural occurrences in the peregrine falcon nesting box.

We have decided to turn off our birdcam until the 2017 season.

Thank you to all of our faithful birdcam viewers!

http://greatriverenergy.com/we-use-energy-wisely/environmental-impact/peregrine-falcon-birdcam/

Offline RCF

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Re: Minnesota / Elk River - 2016 / Brooklyn & Mary Ellen
« Reply #3589 on: March 27, 2016, 09:06 »
This is from a employee at ELK River.

Typically we have had the falcons migrate in mid November, Mary Ellen 11/X stayed at the nest box until 1-9-16 before she migrated south, so she was only gone for five weeks.

Mary Ellen returned early this year on 2-20-16 and on 3/3/16 Brooklyn 65/M returned, same pair of falcons from last year and courtship occured.

This is Mary Ellen's fourth year and Brooklyn's second year in the GRE nest box.

The first egg was laid on 3-22-16 at 7:20 a.m. and the second egg was laid on 3-24-16 at 7:40 p.m., we should see the third in the early a.m. on Sunday.

The photo is of Brooklyn asking if Mary Ellen wanted a break.


http://www.peregrinefalcon-bcaw.net/viewtopic.php?p=388872#p388872

Offline RCF

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Re: Minnesota / Elk River - 2016 / Brooklyn & Mary Ellen
« Reply #3588 on: March 27, 2016, 09:03 »
Three eggs, one is an  Easter egg!


Offline susha

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Re: Minnesota / Elk River - 2016 / Brooklyn & Mary Ellen
« Reply #3587 on: March 25, 2016, 09:59 »
Well, still can't get the regular link from home computer, but am able to view the Youtube one, so have bookmarked that link.  Thanks again RCF!  I like this nest.

Offline susha

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Re: Minnesota / Elk River - 2016 / Brooklyn & Mary Ellen
« Reply #3586 on: March 23, 2016, 09:42 »
Thanks RCF!  I tried the link from my work computer and it works, so I'll try it again when I get home.  The youtube one works from work as well...

Offline GCG

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Re: Minnesota / Elk River - 2016 / Brooklyn & Mary Ellen
« Reply #3585 on: March 23, 2016, 08:29 »
Thanks for sharing this site, RCF! I too, am able to view.

Offline RCF

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Re: Minnesota / Elk River - 2016 / Brooklyn & Mary Ellen
« Reply #3584 on: March 23, 2016, 07:15 »
RCF, is there something we have to do to be able to access the cam?  When I click on the link, the cam isn't there...When I tried to sign up for the newsletter, thinking that they must require a sign-up, it wouldn't let me... ???


It works for me but you can try this link susha.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uL2x9d8ELMU
« Last Edit: March 23, 2016, 08:31 by RCF »