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(LOUISVILLE, Ky.) – With the spring season officially here, a peregrine falcon nesting pair is awaiting their five eggs to hatch inside the nest box at Louisville Gas and Electric Company’s Mill Creek Generating Station. But, the couple is not alone in anticipation because they’ve attracted more than 12,000 web cam viewers this season. 

LG&E and Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources installed the state’s first peregrine falcon web cam inside the nest box in 2013. Since the web cam first launched, it has drawn nearly 200,000 viewers over the last three seasons.

Viewers can watch live this year as the pair cares for their eggs. During a typical season, the eggs are incubated by both the female and male falcon for about 33 days before hatching, which should take place in the coming weeks.

The Mill Creek nest box was installed 9 years ago by KDFWR in the window of a concrete power plant stack about 300 feet above ground. 

Peregrine falcons remain federally protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and KDFWR has placed nest boxes at many sites throughout Kentucky, including locations at LG&E and Kentucky Utilities Company's Trimble County, Cane Run, Mill Creek, Ghent and E.W. Brown power plants.

Power plant crevices and alcoves remind the falcons of natural nesting locations, such as mountain cliffs and ledges, and attract ample food supply of pigeons and starlings.

For more than 20 years, LG&E and KU employees have ensured the nest boxes at the power plants provide a safe setting for peregrine falcons to prosper. More than 100 falcons have hatched from these nest boxes.

Efforts to support these magnificent birds of prey are part of LG&E and KU’s comprehensive avian protection plan, which was adopted in 2008, to help protect birds from coming in contact with company equipment and power lines.

Through cross-department collaboration, employees protect birds and nests, use bird-safe methods when possible and participate in local protection programs.

Watch the falcon pair live from the LG&E and KU website.                                                        

Louisville Gas and Electric Company and Kentucky Utilities Company, part of the PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL) family of companies, are regulated utilities that serve a total of 1.2 million customers and have consistently ranked among the best companies for customer service in the United States. LG&E serves 321,000 natural gas and 397,000 electric customers in Louisville and 16 surrounding counties. KU serves 543,000 customers in 77 Kentucky counties and five counties in Virginia. More information is available at www.lge-ku.com and www.pplweb.com.