He's successfully flown away

I got SWITCH in on July 19th after he and a sibling were probably hit by a vehicle at the north end of the Wind River Canyon. The other hawk was killed but not this handsome young male. He got his name because I was told they were bringing me a young golden eagle, a "really young golden eagle". Because of the many times that phrase was used I began to think it meant it was a "really small eagle" so I took a hawk hood along.

Sure enough, by the time the officer and I met in Meeteetse the bird switched into a young Red-tailed Hawk. He must have had a slight concussion as he wasn't quite right but he recovered quickly and began eating his rats the next day.

He proved he could make live kills so it was time for him to be released. I opted to take him to where another baby redtail had been found up in Sunlight at the Elk Creek Ranch. ECHO didn't make it but the area is excellent habitat for these hawks so SWITCH is filling the niche made vacant by ECHO's dying.

Thanks to Susan and Hap Ridgway and other family members, SWITCH had quite an audience for his return to the wild.