Good News!

If given my many hints and more it IS news. I have just signed a contract for, not one, but two books with Globe Pequot Press! The first, The Eagle’s Shadow, is virtually done: a natural and cultural history of All Things Eagle, with over 100 already- acquired illos from petroglyphs and shamanistic religious objects …

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Hunting Eagles

If there is a common image of eagle falconry it is that of a fur- hatted Kazakh or Kyrgiz nomad on a short furry horse, hunting foxes or wolves; this has been reinforced by my own book, by the wonderful art of Vadim Gorbatov, and even by the BBC TV show referenced here a few …

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Air Force

Snapped this shot on the fly today. It’s a hard winter in western Wyoming with deep crusted snow, and mule deer and pronghorn are starting to winterkill. Carcasses of big game animals are immediately targeted by avian predators. A weak rough-legged hawk landed at Jim’s gravel pit yesterday, so he called state wildlife officials. Poor …

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Eevil Eagles

When I announced Darren’s new book (Tetrapod Zoology 1) I mentioned a Darren drawing that contained, among other things, an Australopithecine and a Socorro County calf in mortal danger. Here is the proof, in the form of his 2004 Christmas card (click on it to enlarge):The hominid is the (documented– look up recent material on …

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Vodka from our Mongolian “Home Town”

Lauren brought among other things (like eagle tack I have never seen– be patient!) a bottle of new vodka named after the capitol of Mongolia’s Kazakh “Aimag” or state, therefore the de facto “Berkutchi” capitol. The back is attractive enough, with a Berkutchi painted on it (all photos enlarge if clicked on): But the front …

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Sharing Mongolia’s beauty

I’ve been thinking about Lauren, and her upcoming journey to our eagle friends in Mongolia. Thought I’d share some random images from there, from my trip seven months ago. Enjoy.

“Our” Fulbright Scholar

As Patrick Burns is fond of saying, “The kids are alright.”Happily I know a few who are more than alright. Our campus is full of bright young people, and heralding their accomplishments is one pleasure of my job. But we encounter some rare souls who, like Steve and his blog partners (and our readers), are …

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Spring pronghorn

It seems like spring is a month early this year. The geese arrived the last weekend of February, and the prairie dogs are even peeking out, chattering at me and the dogs. As you can see from this photo, by last weekend, the snowcover was gone from the sagebrush, and the pronghorn were looking great …

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