I was having a quiet evening at home in April of 2011 when I checked my cell phone and notice an email from Ron Magers from ABC Channel 7. My first reaction was, certainly someone is playing a practical joke on me. Why in the world would Ron Magers from ABC be contacting me? Well my curiosity had gotten the best of me and I responded to the email. Sure enough it was indeed Ron Magers. He had recently read a story in the Chicago Tribune that featured a story about the Peregrine falcons that had taken residence at the Historic St. Michaels church in Chicago. One of my images from the falcons and a few of my comments were part of the story. The email started off with a very formal “Hello Mr. Hildebrand”. The email went on to say that he was doing a special segment on Urban Falcons in Chicago and would like to interview me, as well as have permission to use my photographs for the segment. Gee…let me think about this. Are you kidding…Sure! I didn’t say that, but I sure was thinking it.

Over a dozen Peregrine Falcons live in the Chicago land area amongst the high-rise buildings and bridges.  But the pair that had intrigued me the most was the pair at St. Michaels.  The beautiful old church made an incredible backdrop for the nesting pair of falcons perching and flying around it.  The falcons had also wisely chosen a very safe place to have their nest ledge, directly behind the statue of St. Michael holding a sword.  What better protection than an angel holding a sword.