Peregrine Falcons are Awesome!

One day, while driving in the car, Connor asked us what the fastest bird was. I told him that I didn't know, but that we could look it up on the internet when we got home. Kevin, however, already knew. And how!

Kevin launched into a lengthy discussion of the hunting tactics of the peregrine falcon, which can fly at speeds greater then 200 mph! I was impressed. Both by my husband, and this bird.

The very next day, in the mail, was an invitation to an event at the Franklin Park Conservatory where the author of a story about peregrine falcons would read the book, sign books, and then let us meet an actual peregrine falcon! Figuring that this had to be more than coincidence, we made special plans to attend.

And so we met Susan Sachs Levine, author, and Erin McCauley Burchwell, illustrator, and discovered the book, Packard Takes Flight.


Packard is a peregrine falcon who lives on the Rhodes Tower in downtown Columbus. Connor is familiar with this building, as it is the tallest building in Columbus. In this story, Packard flies around Columbus and visits all of our favorite places, including the Franklin Park Conservatory, COSI, North Market, Topiary Garden, Santa Maria, and Art Museum. As the author was reading the story to us, I was so excited to see that I had taken the boys to each and every place that Packard explored in the book. Well, except the inside of the Statehouse. And Kevin had just suggested that I take the boys there for a tour, but I'm not sure they are old enough or that there even are public tours.

The book is fabulous, by the way. And we got our copy signed by both the author and the illustrator!

And then we met a peregrine falcon named Legacy from the Ohio Bird Sanctuary:



There really are peregrine falcons that live on the Rhodes Tower in downtown Columbus, and there is a webcam so that you can see what they are doing in their nest. The first time I tried to show it to Kevin and the boys, it was bedtime, and it was dark outside, so we couldn't see anything. The birds don't have any electric lighting, so be sure to check it out during daylight hours.