Starring Susan....

It's not often that I get pictures of myself during programs.
One woman scheduled three different programs with me (Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts and Home-Schoolers) so I have been seeing a lot of her lately. Tonight, she gave me a CD of pictures from last week's Girl Scout camp:

I was standing in a sea of cute Girl Scouts.

"You just pooped on my shoe."

I love Lucy.

People ask me all the time, "Do the birds love you?"
I have to say no...I think they tolerate us. They trust us this much, but that's where it ends.
If I didn't do the "RAPTOR" thing, I would love to get into falconry. Peregrines are absolutely fascinating.
Education time:
If you fly falcons, you are a "falconer".
If you fly hawks, you are a "austringer".

The Book of St. Albans provides the hierarchy of who could fly what (the spellings are not mine):
1) Emperor: The Eagle and Merloun
2) King: The Ger Falcon and the Tercel of the Ger Falcon
3) Prince: The Falcon Gentle and the Tercel Gentle
4) Duke: The Falcon of the Loch
5) Earl: The Falcon Peregrine
6) Baron: The Busard (Could mean "buzzard' or "bastard hawk")
7) Knight: The Sacre and the Sacret
8) Esquire: The Lanere and the Laneret
9) Lady: The Marlyon (They mean "merlin")
10) Young Man: The Hobby
11) Yeoman: The Goshawk
12) Poor Man: The Jercel (might be slang for "no hawk", since a poor man couldn't afford one)
13) Priest: The Sparrowhawk
14) Holy Water Clerk: The Musket
15) Knave or Servant: The Kestrel

And now you know.

Elvis...good ol' Elvis. One wing works, the other one not so much.
Attitude.

(Showing why they are called BARRED owls.)
And some more attitude.

And here he is giving me attitude again.
Barred owls have such a human face, don't they? And he works it like a diva.
He is getting to be a favorite of mine. He looks huge, doesn't he? Well, it's all feathers.
And attitude.