This is a picture of me and my buddy Quiver. He’s an American kestrel Falcon, the smallest Falcon in North America. This past Saturday, Quiver, Drea and I were out meeting visiting falcon watchers in town to meet for a mini convention and watch the Kodak Falcons.

This is the first time I’ve ever held a bird. Drea has been volunteering for a number of months with Wild Wings Inc. a local non profit group that does raptor educational shows. That’s raptor as in bird of prey, not killer dinosaurs.

Quiver was supposed to spend Saturday on a perch. But he prefers to be held. And the next thing I knew, Wild Wing’s director asked me if I’d do the honors. Hopefully this picture in no way portrays how afraid I was of breaking the bird.

For the most part he seemed happy. The closest he got to a commentary on handling skills was when he pooped on my hand.