ML247964321

Age and sex

Adult Male - 1

Observation details

As I walked up to end of road, female flew up and began to call, apparently in response to my presence. She remained some seventy meters away, alarming, until suddenly her call switched to a single note shriek and she took off toward the back side of the clearing. The male had arrived, and she flew to him, the two spun and fluttered at each other, and he came by to quietly to circle a few times and leave as the female fell silent while I continued to walk in the opposite direction. As I returned to the car past here, however, she came closer and her alarms grew louder, more fervent. I took a few steps in her direction, and she soon began to dive bomb me, soaring wide and tucking in to fly straight at my face, holding eye contact. After some time the male appeared, too, with prey in his talons, and when he arrived the female shrieked again as she flew up to him. She took the food from him and went to perch nearby, and he took up the task of trying to convince me to leave. His tactic was different to the female, however, and he circled me, alarming, swooping close just once and perching very infrequently. Eventually I spotted the nest, a broad, shallow depression in the sphagnum bordered with a handful of sticks, lightly lined with dried grass and surrounded about 200° by bushes. Four fuzzy dumplings were strewn awkwardly across the nest, one tucked just on the edge of the cup, presumably taking advantage of available shade. Largest chick nearly twice the size of smallest. Photos taken.

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS REBEL T3i

Lens

TAMRON 18-400mm F/3.5-6.3 Di II VC HLD B028

ISO

500

Focal length

400 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/9.0

Shutter speed

1/500 sec

Dimensions

3496 pixels x 2387 pixels

Original file size

387.11 KB