Amazing!

I really can't think of a better way to describe our recent family field trip other than amazing! Let me start with how we ventured on this one time day of homeschooling.

For those of you who know G-man, you know that he is very, very, very fond of our feathered friends the birds. Most particularly raptors. This is the boy who has been both a bald eagle and a harpy eagle for Halloween (now those are easy to come by at Target). This obsession started at the age of 4 and although he has many other interests, this is one that seems embedded or possibly pre-programmed in his little brain. In any case, I was at a fundraising event quite some time ago and happened upon a lovely little auction item titled, "A Day in the Field to Band Golden Eagles." No shit!! What would G-man do if I told him he could go band golden eagles for a day! Well, I was not with my significant other on this particular night so to get up the guts to bid on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, I drank. I drank a little too much. Not so much to make me do embarrassing things to hear about later (other than bid on live auction items) but just enough to bid on and win the said auction item. Needless to say, EJ wasn't amused. Most especially when I tried for over a year to schedule this banding extravaganza at which point, I was convinced was just a great donation to our local children's museum with no goods or services received (tax donation at this point please?). Just when I was about to give up, Raptor Guy called and left a message to schedule our long overdue raptor banding trip. Schedule we did, about 6 weeks in advance with all directions and checklists finalized. The date to anticipate, September 16.

I must say, I can be a little of a half glass empty kind of girl at times. I like to believe it's my mental preparation for things going poorly. Not that things often go as such but if I plan on trouble and all is well, I am pleasantly surprised! Let's just say, I often plan for worst case scenario. With this in mind, we set off for our day trip at about 6 am for an hour and half drive to meet at a gas station in a small Montana town. I was honestly a little sceptical that this was really going to happen. But happen it did and after a little more driving and 4-wheel shuttling, we were sitting in a trapping blind waiting for our first bird by 10:00 am.

This is when the waiting game began and although my initial glass-half-empty-thought was "OMG, what is Roo going to do this entire day? He's going to drive me crazy! I should have brought some little toy guys or cars or something for him to play with!" So I started feeding him. "Roo, do you want some cheese? How about a cookie? Fruit leather?" I just fed him and fed him until he was bored with it. Then they went out and fed the lure birds, then at around 11:00, we experienced our first catch! A beautiful Cooper's Hawk with shimmering golden eyes and beautiful feathers. Raptor Guy gently placed the bird in EJ's care and we took it down to a separate tent to measure, weigh, and band the bird. Then to my amazement, Raptor Guy passed the precious cargo off to G-man to release. I think the boy had died and gone to heaven! His mantra the remainder of the day was, "This is the best day of my life!" After 4 more catches of 3 Sharp Shinned Hawks and a Red Tailed Hawk (all of which he released but one that he kindly allowed Roo to do), I think I believe him. And with no Golden Eagles on our trapping list...we have an invite to try again in October. I won't hold my breath, but I will keep my fingers crossed.

EJ and boys with a Cooper's Hawk

G-man preparing to release the Cooper's Hawk

Roo palm releasing a Sharp Shinned Hawk

Raptor Guy passing off the Red Tailed Hawk for G-man to release.