Sharpbirdz

Stunning!!

It took a lot of convincing to get him to *land* on the snow as well. And even then, he didn't want to put his feet down. lol

Beautiful!

Probably! Nugget was a small little lad who usually chose to flee instead of fight in his bird encounters. Never had one with any land predators thankfully.

Adventures in extreme bird watching.

Next I needed to convince him to fly over the snow, which took a lot of doing. We were probably out there for 30 minutes before I could get this sort of response. But he finally decided he was more hungry than freaked out.

He spent a lot of time staring at the snow banks, like they might get him if he wasn't careful. Thankfully they kept a respectful distance away.
The sun came out and he spent some time sunning with his wings open. 🌞 ❄️

#falconry #bird #hawk #snow

Mother. How could you leave your small man in the big white like this??

#falconry #bird #raptor #hawk

Red tailed hawk on glove over snow.

Red tailed hawk on glove over snow looking back.

Red tailed hawk on glove over snow looking down.

Nugget's training ended up taking longer than expected, so I brought him with me to finish it in the great white north when I went home for the holidays. First I had to get him accustomed to the snow. He was very dubious. He'd seen it, but not on the ground like this.

Haha this looks ominous. Like that Lil guy has a prank lined up for Mom and she has no idea yet.

There is a semi permeable sun shade on my weathering area, so I bring my birds in during heavy rain, cold rain & other dangerous weather, but if it's light rain, I tend to let them stay out in it. Their feathers helps them stay warm & dry, they just look bedraggled on the outside lol

Uhoh!! Rain! Rain is actually good for loosening up the outer layers of beak and nail, which allows them to scrape them off & sharpen them. It's not unheard of for birds to choose to be in the rain. Captive birds tend to get overlong beaks & it may be because they spend more time inside.

Their brows are bone and can't move like a human's. They're great for protection though. Lots of birds have eyelashes, though I don't think they all do. Pigeons for example don't appear to. But ostriches and emus have very long ones!

The face of someone who knows he's pretty.

#falconry #bird #nature #hawk #raptor

The mouse guts belongs on the glove, not your face. 🦅

From a distance it looks a little like a pigeon chick?

Friend shaped!

#falconry #hawk #raptor #bird #nature

Yeah, I just released one of my birds yesterday. Looking forward to the fall and seeing how my remaining female does. Excited to get through my backlog to share their adventures!

CW >> Dead rat
Nugget continued to have luke warm interest in the lure for a while. It slowed up our training & was sort of bewildering given the rabbit fur lure, which I was told often can make them too possessive of the lure even when the food is gone. I've seen that since, but not with him. Lol

Maybe she wanted to be tenderized!

Bust of a juvenile red tailed hawk with pale eyes in late afternoon sunshine.

Pretty eyes!

#falconry #bird #raptor #nature #eye

Dorky looking red tailed hawk staring at the camera in a sun beam.

My current falconry season got very busy for a while. Can't wait to share those pictures! But for now, have a dork. ❤️
#falconry #hawk #bird #raptor

He was a handsome little fellow, and eventually a good hunter. While I'm happy to have learned with new birds, I still miss him! But I suspect he's doing quite well for himself somewhere...
Of course! Love to chat!

2021 photo of juvenile red tailed hawk named Nugget sitting on the back of a metal folding chair.

At some point the saw horse we used for training got taken away so we had to improvise...

#falconry #hawk #raptor #nature #bird

Juvenile redtailed hawk sitting on a perch in a weathering area, poofed up and tail fully fanned out.

Poof with maximum tail fan for inexplicable reasons. Probably something exciting in the distance. Cute little dork.
#falconry #bird #raptor #nature #hawk

Don't ever presume you could look even half as majestic as Nugget looks fresh from the weathering area.
#falconry #hawk #redtailedhawk #nature #bird #raptor

Nice shot! They're gorgeous birds, especially with their adult plumage.

Juvenile red tailed hawk. A crop is a pouch in their neck that food goes into before the stomach. A lure is an object that you can call the bird to. It gives them the satisfaction of ending a situation with something similar to a kill. They chase & grab it & its often offered with a large meal.

Nugget after his first lure training session with a big full crop!
#falconry #bird #raptor #hawk

Cw>> dead animal & blood

Fight for the spaghetti!
Nugget was not willing to tuck in right away. This was strange & he needed to make sure the spaghetti was worth it first.