Brinn and Beasley’s legacies will live on. We Energies has named two of the peregrine falcon chicks born this year at the Port Washington Generating Station nest box after the beloved falcons who died earlier this year.
The original Brinn and Beasley called Port Washington home for more than a decade — raising 22 chicks together. Brinn was found dead in the nest box earlier this year, and Beasley disappeared. It is believed the falcons died of bird flu.
Not long after their deaths, an unbanded female falcon and a male falcon named Hamm’s Solo moved into the nest box. The new couple laid four eggs, which all hatched in late May.
This week, We Energies held a special ceremony at which the chicks were named and given their identification bands. All of this year’s chicks were named after legendary peregrines from the past — the “founding feathers” of the We Energies and Wisconsin Public Service (WPS) peregrine falcon program.
From left to right, the Port Washington chicks are:
- Brinn — Brinn came to Port Washington from Minnesota in 2014 and raised 30 chicks in 11 years.
- Beasley — Beasley nested in Port Washington from 2017 to 2025. He was born at the former We Energies Milwaukee County Power Plant in 2014.
- Maya — Maya was born at the Weston Power Plant in 2006 before settling at the Valley Power Plant and raising eight chicks.
- Scout — Scout was raised in captivity and released from the Pleasant Prairie Power Plant in 1992. She settled in Indiana and raised 23 chicks.
We Energies and WPS began installing peregrine falcon nest boxes on power plants in 1992. So far, 465 peregrine falcons have hatched at We Energies and WPS facilities — that’s 20% of all peregrine falcons born in Wisconsin.