I'm a Falconer...

...Of sorts. Henry and I have a new trick.

I was cleaning in the bar the other day and Henry was on his play perch in the front room. He really wanted to be where I was, so he flew the 30 feet or so to me from his perch, but couldn't quite figure out how to land on me or my hand, so he made a u-turn in the air and flew back to his tree.

Last night I'd been working in my office for a spell and when I came out into the bar, in he flew, right to me, but this time he landed on my hand when I held it up!

I was so impressed with his new skill, I practiced with him today to see if he could do it again. I stood in the bar and called him, and after just a few calls, he took off and flew right to my hand. Then I sent him flying back to his perch by saying Go home! and he flew right back to his tree.

We did this a few times and he never missed, which is impressive when you consider he's had very little flying experience in his nine years. He's almost always clipped, but after this last molt, I let him continue growing out all his flight feathers.

I don't like getting him clipped when he hasn't grown out all his feathers - there's always the risk that they'll cut a blood feather and then it's just a stress-fest until they get it pulled. Gah - no thanks. I'm sure he'd agree.

For the past few months he's been flying around the house now & then, which isn't really a good thing, because there's always a chance he could fly into a wall, a window, or an open toilet or some other hazard, but I've noticed he is really agile and able to maneuver well around doorways and avoid the ceiling fans.

He needs to be clipped, but this is way too much fun!