Hawk and Owl

Photo credit goes to my friend, Jon. Maybe you can't tell because of the sunglasses but I am 100% intimidated by this red tailed hawk. Even though I had watched at least a dozen people hold the hawk before my turn, I am scared to death. Notice how I am leaning away from the bird? Yeah, that is after the instructor pushed my body upright because I was WAY back before. The hawk is looking at me right in the eye, giving me the evil eye. I'm trying not to pee my pants. I enjoyed watching the other students hold the bird. As soon as they had the bird on their arm, the men and the women would get this beautiful awestruck expression on their faces. I enjoyed watching their faces change as much as I enjoyed watching the hawk.

This is the long-eared owl and I. Except for the face, the owl looks exactly like tree bark. It would be hard to find one of these in the wild. This bird has a feisty reputation but was not nearly as intimidating as the hawk.