Sumi . . . ??

What in the world is going on with Sumi?

Well, she molted out to be a Western morph red tail.  In other words, Buteo jamaicensis Calurus.

 
However, she did take her sweet time finishing up the molt, and in fact failed to drop her first three to four primaries on each wing.  She would also, very recently, decide to yank out one of her deck feathers that I had attached a transmitter connector to.

I have also been a bit slow myself getting her on the wing.  We have a lot of weight to drop.  I am making progress now, and hopefully will find out whether or not she will be a falconry bird.  Last year we ran out of time to discover the answer.

She's a beautiful girl!  Here is a close-up that I played with a little in photo edit for fun.

Nova - Almost There!

Nova is making good progress.  Very soon we will be able to call her a Falconry Bird.  The picture above was on her first free flight hunt.  She got to see a few bunnies kicked out for her, and did catch a meadow vole, which was quickly put into her crop.

When she was flown at my "Honey Hole" ee must have kicked out 10 or 12 bunnies for her.  She got many good chases, but still has not sealed the deal.

On another day, no picture taken, we took her flying in a park that is well known for squirrels.  She showed that she will chase those tree rats, but we did not have many volunteers that day willing to come out to play.  Anna flew her with her dad over the last weekend at a golf course where she did get the chance to see a pheasant.

On the Winter Solstice she did finally put her foot on a bunny, but had grabbed it in some thick brush, and before Anna made it to her the bunny ripped free from her grasp around some branches and escaped.

Very very soon this team will pull it all together!