ML184497111

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

Complete write-up of this sighting in NS Birds ( Volume 6, Issue 4, Summer 2014, p.45 - extract following), and on ABA RBA . "Was flying with a small flock of Broad-wings. Also s/b Rick Whitman. See photos.We were really lucky in that the hawk made one big loop right around the area of the camp. Richard obtained a number of photos and then this large hawk headed north-east, probably right over the Westport area. It was joined, again by the Broad-winged Hawks as it passed out of sight. We immediately sat down and viewed the images on the camera. We had two field guides on hand. It may have taken ten minutes before we were certain that we had just recorded a Zone-tailed Hawk and that the photos ruled out any other possibility. Richard then put our observation on the NS Rare Bird Alert. According to the American Birding Association (find under: #ABArare - Zone-tailed Hawk), this was the fifth record for this species east of the Mississippi River. A fall, 1976 record around Musquodoboit Harbour, HRM, is one of those, so Nova Scotia is part of the story of this species in the East. The only other spring record of the previous four, occurred this year on Chappaquiddick I., just off Martha’s Vineyard, MA. However, the tail bands on that bird suggest a female while those on the Brier I. bird suggest an adult male."- R.W.

Technical information

Model

NIKON D7000

Lens

300.0 mm f/4.0

ISO

720

Focal length

420 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/7.1

Shutter speed

1/2000 sec

Dimensions

1408 pixels x 933 pixels

Original file size

478.77 KB