Falcon eggs have marked the arrival of spring in Lansing since 2004, when Board of Water and Light accountant Dina Maneval launched peregrine falcon conservation efforts at the utility’s Eckert Power Plant.
Three eggs were discovered in recent weeks in the nesting box atop Eckert. Maneval said the site typically produces three or four eggs each year.
“Each egg is just as exciting as the first,” she said. “You watch them court every day, and then all of a sudden — there’s an egg in the nesting box.”
The discovery brings anticipation for the roughly 35-day incubation period.
“It’s like, OK, the countdown begins,” Maneval said. “In about 35 days, you’ll start to see little cracks in the shell. That’s when they pip — and then they hatch.”
Maneval built the first nesting box after a coworker reported seeing peregrine falcons at Eckert.
“I went online that same week, found a blueprint and we had it built in our shop,” she said. “As soon as we placed it, the falcons started using it within a couple of weeks.”
She later installed a second box at BWL’s Erickson Power Station about 15 years ago after employees repeatedly reported falcon sightings.
“At first, I didn’t believe them,” Maneval said. But when she visited about five years ago, she confirmed the presence of eggs from peregrine falcons.
Peregrine falcons were listed as endangered in Michigan until 2024 because of the effects of the pesticide DDT, which was banned in the 1970s. The chemical caused eggshells to thin and break before hatching.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources once banded peregrine falcons statewide to track the population. Banding ended in 2024 when the birds were removed from the state’s endangered species list and reclassified as threatened.
The bands still allow Maneval to trace the origins of some birds. One current resident at Eckert, a female named Millie, came from Chicago’s Millennium Park.
“Millie is from Millennium Park,” Maneval said. “She came here to start her family.”
Of the many falcon chicks hatched at BWL sites over the past 22 years, only a few have been tracked to adulthood. The most successful one landed in Ann Arbor.
“She must be about 7 years old now, and she’s laying her own eggs,” Maneval said. “So there’s one successful fledge I can actually report on.”
Others have faced challenges. One young falcon ended up at Detroit Metropolitan Airport with a broken wing. After it repeatedly returned to the hazardous area, the DNR relocated it out of state.
Maneval traces her passion for falcons back to fifth grade and her teacher, Mara Lud.
“Miss Lud is the one who first made me think the peregrine falcon was so amazing,” she said.
The story came full circle years later when Maneval contacted Moores Park School about raising money for falcon cameras. The principal at the time was her former teacher, Mara Lud.
“A couple years later, we even named one of the falcons Mara because she was so involved,” Maneval said.
Other organizations have followed BWL’s example. Michigan State University began its own peregrine falcon conservation efforts in 2022 after reaching out to Maneval for advice.
“One of my favorite moments was when MSU called and asked, ‘Where should we put our nest? How did you do it?’” Maneval recalled. “I was happy to tell them everything.”
Maneval has no plans to expand the program further. Livestreams of the falcons at the Eckert and Erickson nesting boxes are available on the Board of Water and Light’s YouTube channel.