ML107642631

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Media notes

photo by Dennis Murphy

Observation details

Driving down Hwy. 2, we spotted a mysterious bird perched on a telephone wire. It was too dark for a Western Kingbird, and it flew across the road into an abandoned homestead (5262 County Road 2) and joined it's mate on a snag that was near the old house. As we were grabbing gear out of the backseat, we began to hear the distinctive, whistled, mew call of a Say's Phoebe. We then lost track of the birds and they quit calling. After ten minutes passed, we began hearing a bird calling again, and we had excellent scope views of a SAY'S PHOEBE perched in a snag on the side of the house. A second SAPH landed on the house rain gutter. Description: these birds were the same form factor and as an Eastern Phoebe., but were much warmer brown overall. The upper breast was dusky gray and the lower belly and undertail coverts was cinnamon buff. They would call continuously for extended intervals. We feel confident that this a breeding pair of Say's Phoebes, and might be of interest to Minnesota birders. In our case, we state list every state and Canadian province, and were thrilled to find the birds.

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS 7D Mark II

Lens

EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM

ISO

400

Focal length

371 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/8.0

Shutter speed

1/800 sec

Dimensions

1713 pixels x 1142 pixels

Original file size

667.7 KB