Rock Hill Middle School teacher Denise Fraley's seventh period reading class has become a falcon club after they began studying about the Peregrine falcons that roost on the Ironton-Russell Bridge.

And on Thursday, Chris Smith, the wildlife area supervisor with the Ohio Division of Wildlife, spoke to the class about the Peregrine falcons that have turned the bridge into a nesting spot.

The students were fascinated to see new photos of the Ironton-Russell falcons that were taken last week by a small heat and motion-activated camera the Division of Wildlife installed in the roosting box on the bridge.

"Which is something the kids hate to do," she said, but with the falcons being figuratively in their backyard has made the students more motivated. "They've also learned that the Internet is more than just a search engine. They have done really good with this project. I'm proud of them."

The class has been reading about the birds in books and has been using the Internet to check out other nests in Ohio that are monitored with Web cameras.

"For some of our students it's like a soap opera," Fraley said. The falcons in upper Ohio have laid their eggs so the students have been monitoring the progress and doing reports for class.

The class has used the Internet for more than just monitoring Ohio birds. They are also in communication with Monterey Ridge Elementary class in San Diego, Calif. that is also studying the birds.

Fraley said that they were going to use videoconferencing so the California students could participate in the session with Supervisor Smith but Monterey Elementary didn't have their equipment installed yet. Teacher Lynne Harvey did e-mail some questions since her students are working on projects to the Rock Hill class.

The students are looking forward to when the birds get banded, which is when the baby falcons are taken out of the nest and metal identity tags are put on there legs so naturalists can study their migration habits.

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