The bird is flying high and far now. He will bathe once or twice, then fly 30-45 minutes. On windy days, he really swoops and soars. Today he was reluctant to come back down for food. He also perched on treetops and a telephone pole for the first time.
It looks like he is torn between hanging around for easy food and heading out. When high or fast, he is reluctant to descend or really put on the brakes to return to the glove. This is at his highest weights. He doesn’t leave the yard at his lowest weights. There are no fish for him to catch, so I am just letting him exercise and observing his behavior.
He stays within eye contact and flies back overhead in response to whistles. He occasionally whistles back. There are no surface fish to speak of, but he sure has been circling the ponds, a couple of hundred feet up–the perfect set up for a real dive. I hope he continues that behavior when warm weather returns, but he is clearly not under good control at his high weights even when his crop is empty.
I loved the book and appreciate it!