Young and old

Here are all three golden eagles in the flight barn. The center bird is DOVE, an adult who's been here since the end of February. She had a partially dislocated elbow and altho it's been repaired she still isn't flying well enough for release.

The other two are babies. HOBBIT is from Deaver and was found unable to fly very well. That's because she was too young to leave the nest but didn't realize it so baled out. She was a bit thin but has been eating well and has now proven she can make live kills. She'll either be returned to where she came from or accompany the other baby to a different release site.

On the right is TUMBLER, the wee baby who came here at only about three weeks old. He'd fallen, along with his nest, down a very high wall at a coal mine. He is all grown up now and even flying almost as high as the walls in this barn. He is learning about live prey but not quite there.

As you can see, baby means young, not small. HOBBIT is about the size of DOVE while TUMBLER, as a male, is smaller. I will miss all of them when they're finally free.