Much more like it.

Karen and I decided this morning that a Sunrise in the hot tub would be just the thing to start the day. Well, in fact the Sun was doing such a fine job of it that we decided to hop in the car, drive to the top of the hill to see what the Steen's looked like. So off we go in our robes and flip flops. Driving was a bit of a challenge since the temp was only 29 degrees, so it was a two person job with the windshield totally frosted over. Thank heavens for heated seats. The view of Blue Mountains were not that bad either.

The forecast for the day was highlighted by a wind advisory, of 30 MPH with gusts to 40 or 50 MPH. So I called Tami and suggested that we fly Orrin as soon as we could. I had managed to catch a few Starlings, so we were all set to further his education.

So far we have taught him to follow, and that he could catch stuff that we released for him. His last outing was also in high wind conditions on a bird released out of sight on the other side of the brush pile.

What we are now trying to teach him is that he can catch birds that do not come from the hand. The way that we are trying to accomplish that is to conceal the bird in a coffee can with a string on the top that is stretched out a long way from the brush pile. The idea was to walk him close to the brush pile and pull the string releasing the bird to fly unhampered.

His last outing he actually flew over the bird going to a far tree. We yelled and whooped, he turned around and came back, grabbing the Starling. In retrospect I believe that I screwed him up by being so close to the bush.

This time, I stretched the line back further and then had Tami walk up to 10 feet or so of the Brush pile, while I stayed back behind. When the Starling came out he only got about 5 feet and Orrin pounded into him. No hesitation at all. That is what we are looking for. We will set him up like that a few more times, each time we will be further away. It will not be long now before he will view birds in a different light altogether.