Our newest covergirl

Close readers may have noticed I've done a little sprucing up around here. Part of the sprucing involved replacing our old gal, Clara, with our new gal, Cinnamon Girl. CG is unusual because she displays a unusually pronounced auburn mantel. (Compare here.) She is easily identified and unmistakably a red-shouldered hawk.

CG has been a poster child for the local birders - a local icon for her species. She patrols a circuit (no pun intended) just north of the Allen steam plant and west of T.O. Fuller state park. She is also unusually curious and not really shy about human activities. Red Tailed Hawks have a tendency to become somewhat tame if not persecuted. Most other hawks are more indifferent to humans. CG likes the wet land area and her favorite foods are frogs and snakes.