ML300161941

Age and sex

Unknown age, Unknown sex - 1

Observation details

Originally ID'd as Augur Buzzard but later consultation with raptor specialists strongly suggest juv Mountain Buzzard, which I understand is a first confirmed record for Nairobi. First record for Nairobi as I understand it. Email correspondance on ID from Stratton Hatfield: "Your photo of this buzzard sparked a long discussion in the raptor community on how one goes about identifying juvenile Mountain Buzzards. They are a species, that until recently, was poorly photographed and we still don't know alot about breeding phenology and juvenile plumage. We reached a consensus after a straightforward process of elimination that ruled out Augur Buzzard and Steppe Buzzard. Your bird is delicately structured and "bug-eyed" which is very different from Augur Buzzard which is a more robust buteo with a heavier bill. The blotching on your bird's chest is also clean, defined and some of the blotches are perfectly tear-dropped. Juvenile Augurs are variable, but typically they are much more heavily blotched, and while some of the blotches can be tear dropped, the patterning is not as ordered and defined overall. Your bird has lovely pale yellow eyes which is key for separating it from Steppe Buzzard. I personally have never seen a Steppe with such pale eyes in our region. Your bird also appears fresh and clean and my guess is that it is not long out of the nest. Juvenile Steppe Buzzards in Kenya in June are rare and any birds that would be around would be nearing a year old and should be tatty and starting to moult. I was in the Aberdares in March and found a Mountain Buzzard nest with freshly fledged dependent young. If their breeding is synchronous then it would make sense for a wandering juvenile to turn up in Nairobi in June. Plus June is also the start of our cold season and while Mountain Buzzards are not known to be altitudinal migrants perhaps this bird decided to head for warmer weather."

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS 70D

Lens

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

ISO

1600

Focal length

400 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/6.3

Shutter speed

27961/44737601 sec

Dimensions

2036 pixels x 1999 pixels

Original file size

1.18 MB