She's gone

Yesterday I drove on very treacherous roads to Joyce and Nic Patrick's place out on the Southfork Road to release JACKSON. She's been here since August repairing wing feathers and getting over a head tilt from not liking the mews she was in at another facility. She wasn't happy here, at first, but got the hang of how long my flight barn is and started improving.

The weather was horrible, gale force winds and only in the teens. In fact it was only three degrees when I got up at six o'clock that morning. Luckily the sun came out to make it seem better.

A whole bunch of Patrick's were there for the momentous event, all bundled up in many layers. At first JACKSON didn't want to come out of the crate. Then she tried to rush and got twisted around, catching one talon in the door. Luckily Nic was quick and reached down to free the toe. He tossed her in the air and the rest was just watching this beautiful bird find her way.

She made one circle around us and then headed out helped by those strong winds. You can see she's still missing a couple feathers but they will molt in later.

Thanks to the people at the Teton Raptor Center for trusting me with her care and the Idaho Fish & Game for letting her be released here instead of back in ID. That trip there would have been too much for her to handle now.