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Not the gun this time- the new bird,a female Kestrel. Padre Paul trapped her during a javelina hunt, sportscasting her approach to the trap on his cell- O Brave New World!--and suggested we call her that, likening her delicate beauty to that gun. Like most Kestrels she is pretty unflappable. Three ravens killed my larger, dashing Merlin x Gyr; but the Kestrels in Nestor's tin barn across the street used to pound ravens into the ground and make them WALK, protesting, out of the neighborhood.

If someone can tell me why this blog now shows me photos not as photos but as code, puts all the captions in the wrong place. I've moved them around three times and have not yet gotten them in the right place.

...The Gyrlin, back in the long ago day, and with the legendary Zhel.Sigh...

This bird won't stand on food yet but will bite it, and foot you- hard!

Curlew and company

It's a thrill for me every spring when I encounter a group of long-billed curlew, which I had the pleasure of finding Saturday alongside the highway north of Daniel, Wyoming.

They are beautiful and graceful birds, but these guys sure had dirty bills and feet from plodding along in the mud, poking for treasures.

A little further north, near Bondurant, the snow is still very deep, but even small animals came out of their burrows to enjoy the sunshine, racing back and forth with glee.

After a pleasant drive to Jackson for groceries and to run errands, Jim and I were pleased to encounter this gorgeous redhead (an American kestrel) very close to home.

Loving these beautiful spring days and the critters we're able to encounter.

American kestrels

Since I did some time on the couch this week, I had the pleasure of picking up our Matthew Mullenix's American Kestrels in Modern Falconry. I didn't put it down until I had read it from cover to cover - it's simply that great a read for kestrel fans like me. The fact that it's a guide for the training and care of kestrels only provided additional insight into kestrel particulars for me, a falconry observer rather than participant. Highly recommended.

Rural views

There are three kestrels claiming territory on the lambing pasture fence this week. What beauty and fierceness.
Aziat Rant is a yearling now, and in charge of the bums. They are just getting up from a nap in the kennel in this photo:

And an old barn I drive past every now and then just so I can enjoy the view, and imagine the lives and adventures that it saw in days of old: