Flying Monkeys and Redtail Hawks!

  I am always on the lookout for new friends....especially new critter friends.  The Bayou is great about having an endless supply of these critters, some familiar, some unknown.  The marshes, woods, waters and treetops are all homes for the animals.  This afternoon, my cousin and I were able to find many new friends but one in particular stood out as pretty spectacular.  

  It was late afternoon when we heard a loud screeching coming from the treetops beyond the Bayou.  From the west we could see a pair of very large birds fly above the pines.  It was not long before one of the pair decided to alight in one of the tall pines near the pier.  Aha!  A hawk was settling in for a bit and I was able to get a couple of photographs.  I tentatively identified the bird as a Red-tailed Hawk (mainly by the call as I could not see him well).  We watched the bird for some time as he watched us.  

  Later when I looked at the photographs, I noticed something a tad strange.  In the first picture, my hawk appeared to have a "monkey" face!  Wow!  My sweet cousin made the remark that it reminded her of the "flying monkeys" from the movie, "The Wizard of Oz".  Well, I promise that we do not have monkeys...flying or otherwise here on the Bayou!  

  I was a bit relieved to see that the oddity was nothing but a weird camera angle.  The rest of the photographs were fine.  The hawk seemed like an ordinary bird with an ordinary hawk face. I do have to admit that, though disconcerting at first glance, it may have been a bit interesting to have a flying monkey on the Bayou!