My, what a big boy
There’s always a falconry exhibit at these country shows, but I think this is the first time I saw someone exercise a bald eagle. Impressive.
The falconer explained that they do lose them from time to time (including while doing shows), but they have fancy gps collars now, hooked to fancy phone apps. He says if one flies off and doesn’t reappear for a while, he texts the bird: you are lost and collar texts back his location, including altitude. Neat.
This photo (and several other good ones) courtesy of Uncle B.
Oh! Speaking of neat apps, one of my elderly buds was telling me about the app that controls her hearing aids. She can do things you expect, like adjust bass and treble and volume and so on, but the app will also broadcast to her hearing aids. So she can listen to music or podcasts. Even better, during a lecture, she can ask to leave her phone at the podium and it will broadcast the speech back to her.
Technology: making geriatrics cool.
Posted: August 20th, 2019 under animals, birds.
Comments: 7
Comments
Comment from DurnedYankee
Time: August 20, 2019, 8:32 pm
THERE’S A HOBBIT IN THE BACKGROUND OF THAT PHOTO ON THE LEFT SIDE!
No, not really.
Beautiful birds eh?
We need fetes around here.
Comment from Jeff Gauch
Time: August 21, 2019, 3:28 am
“You are lost.”
“Am not. I’m right here.”
“Aha!”
“Buggar.”
Comment from Pupster
Time: August 21, 2019, 10:13 am
Very cool. There was a nesting pair of Eagles nearby when I lived in Ohio, they are impressive to see even from far away. Minnesota was lousy with eagles and Hawks and Falcons and owls, too. Now that I’m in North Carolina, I haven’t seen any raptors except some red tailed hawks, but the crows here are highly entertaining, they have a different voice than I am used to, took me a couple of days to realize crows in the south have southern accents, instead of “cawcaah” they say “quack-quack.”
Comment from Pupster
Time: August 21, 2019, 10:31 am
10 seconds of googling and I discover that they are Fish Crows.
Comment from DurnedYankee
Time: August 21, 2019, 3:44 pm
Crows – filling in for buzzards in places that don’t have real buzzards, like Massachusetts and Maine.
Texas – a place so big there’s equal opportunity for buzzards, normal crows, and Texas sized crows.
I see lots of Red Tail hawks here, and an occasional falcon flying through the low trees like Han Solo flying through the asteroid field.
Somehow it seems wrong to make that analogy, but there it is, that’s the visual.
And buzzards, nothing like seeing a turkey vulture perched on your street sign to remind you that John Wayne and a wagon train of pilgrims could roll by at any moment pursued by a band of Comanches.
That last bit was for my East Coast kin, who think we ride horses, buckboards, and go to the mule doctor above the stable when we come down with the auge.
Comment from Sabrina Chase
Time: August 24, 2019, 5:36 pm
My mom has those fancy hearing aids! She loves them. The latest trick they do is send out an alert if she falls. The only downside is I had to sit her down and explain that since the software only works on iPhones, I would no longer be doing phone tech support for her. (Apple delenda est!) Fortunately her neighbor also has one and is willing to assist.
Comment from Drew458
Time: August 25, 2019, 2:32 am
DurnedYankee, I’m pretty sure that the turkey buzzard is the official NJ state bird. Yeah, there’s a montage portrait somewhere of all the official state plants and animals … dead deer rotting by the highway in a patch of poison ivy, vultures and crows and black flies all over the carcass.
While we have hawks and eagles out here too, we’ve got so darn many vultures it’s unbelievable. Most of them are so well fed and fat they can hardly fly.
….
My hearing aids have the same features, and their app also has GPS location in case they get lost. Wireless charging too. The technology is pretty amazing.
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