It worked ! ! !

PATCH arrived here last June with horribly swollen tissue around her left eye. (see post "Shoulda ducked" on June 13th). After a bit the swelling went down and her eye came through an exam with fyling colors, no permanent damage at all.

The trouble is that this adult female apparently decided she just couldn't fly, at least not more than a few feet. Knowing that it was possible a concussion could cause this reluctance to do what comes naturally, I gave her time. Over the past three months there was some improvement with even long flights the length of the 80' barn, but not every time.

Last weekend I decided to try something new by rearranging the long tree log that was leaning against the "tower" in the barn. It has always been only up as high as the nest box platform in the middle of the tower. PATCH would routinely sit on the lower end and from time to time would climb to the nest. I wondered if I moved the end to the very top if she would continue upward. Of course the angle would be too sharp but I solved that by using one of the many sculpture crates donated to IBR from the BBHC. It worked just beautifully and with the help of lots of astroturf door mats for grip, you can see that PATCH has reached the stars. Well, the top of the tower anyway. She can now fly to the far end with the added height.

The next goal is to see her sitting up on one of the wall perches and surveying her kingdom. As an adult she doesn't have to learn how to hunt so as soon as she's making these long flights, and to the tall perches, she will be ready to return to where she was found as her mate will probably still be in the area.