Note the striped tail, the white chest, and the dark brown spotted belt across his "stomach".
Our hunting season opened over a month ago, but we haven't been able to start exercising and flight-training to hunt again yet, because Dusty was busy growing some new duds...
Here, he looks a little smaller than he is due to the angle, but it really shows off how big his head is for a male Red-Tail, and how absolutely MASSIVE his feet are. His feet, from the tip of his rear toe's talon to the tip of his front center talon, are nearly 1/4" larger than Maia's feet were (my first bird, three seasons ago), and she was a pretty big Female. Dusty is something special.
You'll note here, that he isn't quite done yet. He still has the dark brown spotted belt from his Juvenile plumage, but under his throat and across his chest, you can see the creamy coloring and the lighter brown speckles that will replace it in the next few weeks. In the meantime, his flight feathers, both wings and tail, are all done, so we're up and flying again!
Also, my license was upgraded from 'Apprentice' to 'General' this year, after all the hubub of moving and getting licenses transferred from one state to another, so next season I can trap just about anything I darn well please, save a few well-placed restrictions on protected birds, and I can have more than one bird, to boot. In the meantime, Dusty and I are raring to go start slaying some bunnies again.
