Today was raptor-licious

I saw the bald eagle. But my photos are horrible.
What is wrong with my camera?????

I also got a lifer...Jason, a fellow Flickr user. He lives over in the next town and I have admired his photos for a long time. Go check them out...definitely drool-worthy. He got GREAT photos, with his arm-long lens. Damn. What's wrong with my camera????? It focuses on sh*t I don't want it to focus on!

When I got home, this was waiting on the fence in the front yard:


Cool! But even better was the other red-shouldered hawk sitting in a tree on the other side of the yard:


Two at one time?
Sweeeeet.

Is it me, or do red-shouldereds look softer than other hawks? Sweeter? I would LOVE to work with one at RAPTOR. Maybe soon. Maybe not.
I have been keeping an eye out for bands. A few RAPTORites are part of a study of red-shouldered hawks living in residential areas, and they have banded quite a few RS around here. Click here to see what it takes to call in red-shouldered hawks.

Barn Owl update:
The barn owl at RAPTOR has a vet appointment tomorrow to take one more peek at his wing, and to maybe get some jesses on him so we can start training.

I can't wait.
For those of you who are new to the blog...this bird is unofficially called "No-No". If he feels threatened, he raises his wings and lowers his head and shakes it back and forth...no-no, no-no, no-no.... very cute.
It has taken months to get his wing (skin sheared off by a gutter or downspout) to heal. He is a bit batty, ripping at his bandages constantly, but it is finally healed....Cindy joked that he must be part Cooper's hawk (a rather crazy species).