Some things stay the same while others change!

I can't believe it has been a month since our last update.  Truth be told, not a whole lot has changed for Mortimer.  He continues to stay in our yard, sleeping in a large stand of trees in the neighbor's yard and then coming to perch on the avocado tree at our back step to spend most of the day.  We continue to feed him at a place further away from the house in the back yard but we are getting a bit concerned that he doesn't seem interested in making his own way in the world.  He seems quite content to perch by the back door, chat and call away to us all day long, eat when food gets put out for him and fly around when he feels to.  He doesn't seem interested in figuring out how to hunt or really survive on his own in this wild world.  And as really nice as it is to have him as part of our family in this way, we are worried that it is not in his best interest.

So we are thinking about taking him 1/2 mile form our house to Carl's garden where he would not be attached to our house and there are no other houses around. Carl is there daily to leave food when necessary and check on his progress.  "We will do it tomorrow" is the mantra since last week.  We are a bit attached to Mortimer :)!!  Just as Mortimer used to join the kids on the couch, Kamala now likes to take climbs into the avocado tree to be close to him.

In other big news we are now pretty certain that Mortimer is actually a Plumbeous Kite - another type of local raptor.  A few weeks ago there was a pair of kites that were attacking Mortimer as they have a nest across the road.  When Mortimer is being harassed by little birds he basically sits regally and ignores them but when this full grown raptor dive bombed him we saw some awesome flying maneuvers from Mortimer and he actually used our house as an escape route.  He didn't land in the house but rather flew through the house and quickly confused and lost his pursuer.  It seems that all birds have realized Mortimer is not a threat and they are no longer harassing him. Getting closer looks and listens to these grown kites has convinced us that this is Mortimer's family.  Some clues are that his wings are now longer than his tail and he has rufous feathers under his wings.

So our hawk is now a kite.  Here is Mortimer, and below is a picture from Cornell Lab of Ornithogy website with two adults feeding an immature kite....looks like Mortimer for sure!!  So we are expecting a lot of changes to Mortimer as he ages.....eyes turning red, feet turning orange and bill turning all grey.

We've had some hot days recently and a few days ago we had the treat of seeing Mortimer take a bath.  At first I thought he was injured but then I realized what was happening and took some video of his first fun with water (at least that we have witnessed).  I kept recording hoping that I would finally get a video of him flying but he proceeded to hop up the steps just as we would....is there any hope for him?!?