Finnegan is 38 days old now and approaching full size. And he has just started to take running hops across the lawn while flapping his wings. He will be able to fly soon and "real training" will begin!

Finnegan at 34 days of age. He's been growing like a proverbial weed this week. For a bird that only weighs 1lb, 9oz he's been eating a ton! In fact, he's been putting away 6 to 8 ounces of quail meat every day lately which is about a third of his weight. I'd have to eat nearly 50 pounds of meat each day to follow suit!

A 28 day old Finnegan, taking a rest between spurts of stumbling around, stretching, flapping his wings, and pulling fur from the dog's tails. I'm a very aesthetically focused person, and am interested in all art forms (with a strong focus on watercolors, architecture, and textiles). I used to think that, next to the female form, a tired hunting dog sleeping on an oriental carpet was the most pleasing vision to rest my eyes upon. Looking at a young hawk lying on a richly colored Nahavand-style Persian Hamadan gave me a whole new perspective. If you were to investigate parts of the world that have a rich history of falconry within their cultures, you would find that there also exists a deep appreciation for creating and living with hand-knotted wool pile rugs. Falconry and Oriental rugs have gone hand-in-hand for over 4,000 years, and I can't help but think of that when I see one of my hawks or dogs resting upon one of my rugs.

A nest full of baby Cooper's hawks! This was an interesting nest to visit. The whole time I was in the tree, the adult male never made an appearance, but the mother of these three little fuzz-balls kept a close eye on me from about two trees away. She just sat up there in the canopy watching me photograph her chicks and occassionally shouted a "Kak" or two in my direction, but otherwise, seemed unconcerned.

Thank goodness my old Pointer is so laid-back around raptors. She has spent her entire life working with birds of prey and having them raised around her, so she barely batted an eye when Finnegan started pulling at her ears and biting her collar. He then stumbled around in front of her and started nibbling on her toenails and all she did was lift her head to get a better look at him. Good falconry dogs are hard to find.

Finnegan at 27 days of age, snoozing in an early morning beam of sunlight that came streaking through the window.

Two baby goshawks (Accipiter gentilis); one North American female and one Finnish male. Possible future breeding pair?

This is the "nest box" that Finnegan has been spending most of his time in. He entertains himself for hours by simply sitting around in it, keeping an eye on me and my dogs.

I put new anklets and jesses on my young hawk so that he could begin getting used to them, and he barely paid them any attention. He'd far rather stand around preening himself and shaking off the dander that's results from so many feathers growing in so rapidly.

Here's little "Finnegan" at 24 days of age, taking a break from a wobbly, exploratory stumble around the room that he's being raised in. He's new to walking, so watching him practice is endlessly entertaining.

My new infatuation is a three week old Finnish goshawk that I'm calling "Finnegan." I can't keep my eyes off of him. I've been around scores of imprint falcons and a couple of hawks but none of them have impressed me the way this bird does. I've got high hopes for my new charge.