Meeting Missy

This is a female Red-Tailed Hawk named Missy.  She was the only attendee of the May Fair in our local park who surprised me this afternoon.  Missy's human handler proudly presented her to passers-by, along with a few squirrel skins and a possum's skull, trophies won by the winged huntress herself.  The extra photo shows the team together.

I mentioned a raptor nest elsewhere in the park, and the falconer knew all about it.  It turns out to be a Cooper's Hawk nest, in use again these past two years.

I seldom get to see a bird of prey, much less such a beauty as this, up close.  That's why I was pleased as punch to meet Missy.