Amazing recovery

KESWICK arrived here on July 9th after being found on the road to Valley Ranch almost at the end of the Southfork Road. He had a fractured right hand and was almost starved to death. I thought surgery would be needed to remove the tip of his wing but he was so thin I knew he wouldn't survive surgery right then. I decided to feed him up, gain strength, and then tackle the surgery.

A couple weeks ago I weighed him again and he'd gained a much needed ounce but I also noticed his wing was stronger. I put him into a small flight area to see what would happen. He never looked back, was flying in the 8'x 20' mew with no problems.

Yesterday I took him out to an area known to be a great kestrel habitat and released him. As you can see by this photo, he again, never looked back. Instead of landing on a nearby tree, he turned away and left us in the dust. Thanks to my friend Susan Osborne for getting this shot of him flying off.

Just proved to me that I should never take things at first face value.