By JULIE CARLE
BG Independent News
Falcons are a familiar bird to Bowling Green author and artist Susan Montgomery.
She’s a proud graduate of Bowling Green State University, where falcons are the beloved mascot. She also remembers first hearing the recognizable screech of the local falcons as they soared around the skies of Bowling Green.
The author of several books, including 10 children’s books, Montgomery believed that a children’s story about the swift and powerful bird had potential. The former art teacher had drawn and painted the bird and toyed with various storylines.
The idea that stuck came when she became engrossed watching the Falcon Cam at the Wood County Courthouse, where the local falcons start their annual family-raising adventure.
“I was watching the Falcon Cam in the spring and was getting all this inspiration from the real falcons. I kept paying attention to the falcons and how people responded,” she said during a recent interview. “I knew that I wanted to include the community, the university and the Falcon Cam in the story.”
The final product is the children’s book “Clock Tower Falcons: Discover the Peregrines of Bowling Green, Ohio.” The book, published through Montgomery’s own Painted Pitcher Press, became available on Amazon on Sept. 1.
The book features Montgomery’s lyrical words and delightful illustrations of the falcon parents, their chicks, the majestic courthouse and its clock tower where the falcons roost to hatch their eggs and raise their chicks to independence.
The message of the book is in the sky, she said, “just realizing what is right above you, if you just take the time to notice.”
Thanks to the Falcon Cam, a joint project between the Wood County Commissioners and BGSU, the book provides a direct line into the world of the falcons.
“You can see the eggs hatching, their daily life and just all the squawks,” she said.
Montgomery often uses the Falcon Cam as the vantage point for the book. Some pages are like looking at the baby peregrine falcons, also known as eyasses, through the camera lens. Another page shows the big-eyed stare of a young child intently watching the babies on a computer screen and asking the question, “Can they see us too while we wait down below?”
In each page she incorporates the sights and sounds of the courthouse, skies and scape, which is the graveled encampment at the clock tower’s ledge where the peregrines raise their young.
She spent countless hours researching every angle possible. Stacks and stacks of children’s books taught her some of the fundamental details of peregrine falcons: how many talons they have, what their feet look like, and the color of their feathers.
She also talked to BGSU biologist Dr. Verner Bingman to uncover some of the lesser-known falcon facts.
“He was really helpful,” she said. “A lot of people think when the falcons go to the clock tower in the spring they are back in town, but they don’t leave the area,” Bingman told her. In reality, they are here all the time. The annual visit to the clock tower is part of their breeding pattern and behavior every year.
Another crucial insight he shared was about the big moments in the young peregrines’ lives. Montgomery recalled him saying, “A lot of people think that the big moment in their life cycle is when they leap and learn to fly. Actually, I think it’s a little more amazing when they learn to hunt in mid-air,” lessons they learn from their parents.
Throughout the book, she visually includes the familiar Bowling Green winds, the big dong sound of the courthouse clock and the view of the treetops from the falcons’ ledge. She spent hours studying and refining the image of the courthouse, doing her best to capture the unique beauty of its architecture.
As with all Montgomerys children’s books, the teacher-side of her shines. In addition to the story and illustrations, she provides extras. This book has fun falcon facts, a discussion guide, links to find more falcon facts, and information about the courthouse and community.
A very special accompaniment to the book is “The Falcon Lullaby,” inspired by the real peregrine falcons that nest in the courthouse clock tower. Readers can view Montgomery’s lyrics and listen to local musician (and BGSU Falcon) Dean Rochester sing the lullaby.
Rochester is a singer-songwriter who loves sharing life’s moments through music. Named Independent Singer/Songwriter of the Year in 2016, he has performed across the U.S. and Europe. His performance of the lullaby is accessible through a QR code in the book or by visiting Rochester’s bandcamp site at https://deanrochester.bandcamp.com/.
The work with Rochester and help from Bingman continue Montgomery’s desire to collaborate with community members and organizations for her writing projects.
“Community is just so important in my books,” she said. She remembers the mayor making proclamations about the falcons in the past, so she includes that in the book. She also shows school children making feather art, learning about the peregrine lifecycle in science, measuring their wingspan in math and gliding like a falcon in gym class.
While the book is about the Bowling Green peregrines, she believes the book has broad appeal. “It’s all about looking up and realizing what’s around you in nature. Anybody can think of nature in their own community and interact with it,” she said. “The big takeaway is the community, and how everything works together.”
To order the book, visit Amazon. The e-book is available free until Sept. 6.
