By Christopher Klaver
CIO
Posted: July 5, 2017 1:18 PM

Some of the Department of Transportation’s larger bridges provide not only transportation for people and goods, but also an opportunity for the endangered peregrine falcon to recover.

This year and next year, the falcons nesting on the Portage Lake Lift Bridge between Houghton and Hancock will have options for some new housing thanks to a partnership between MDOT, the Department of Natural Resources and students at Baraga Area Schools.

The bridge had nesting boxes installed in 2012, but DNR officials last year found the boxes were beginning to deteriorate.

Baraga schools industrial arts teacher John Filpus, contacted by DNR officials for help, put his students on the project last school year to build two new boxes for the bridge.

"There were a few classes that participated in the design and construction of the nest box," Mr. Filpus said in the announcement of the new boxes. "Our AutoCADD class worked developing a blueprint for the design of the box based on pictures of others built. Some students in Baraga's wood shop and construction trades class built the box."

In addition to being stronger than the old boxes, the new nesting areas include a lid to prevent the chicks from falling out while DNR officials band them.

The first of the new boxes was installed this spring just before the pair returned to the area and the second is to be installed before the 2018 nesting season.

The Copper Country Audubon Club has also joined the effort, installing webcams on the boxes that can be viewed at http://pasty.com/nestbox.html. The club provided the cameras; Pasty.com, a local internet service, provided equipment, and the departments assisted with installation.

Officials said the pair that nests on the bridge have produced 12 chicks since the initial boxes were installed, including three this year that were banded on June 19.

The Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge also provides nesting sites for a pair of falcons, which this year produced four chicks. The bridge has seen 24 falcon chicks since 2010 when nesting boxes were installed, officials said, but had been home to falcon pairs before that.

Though the birds are not on the federal endangered list, they are still designated as endangered in Michigan. Officials said there are about 40 nesting pairs statewide and that two new pairs are added every year.