ML383992531

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

I saw this large bird heading east as it crested over Larch Mountain, gliding into the strong wind towards Wy'east, and then soon dipped low over the next ridgeline. Not great lighting so I was not able to ID it as either Bald or Golden in the field and was relying on being able to do so from my photos. As I was trying to be more prepared to reach for the camera for documentation with brief looks in the bins today, I did not gather much while in the field. What I did gather from my photos is that firstly the beak is not as large as Bald's would be. The heftiness of the head also seems to be less so than a Bald's. Three of the photos with underwing shots don't seem to show any white axillaries for the bird which would point away from Bald. The flight feathers are also white where the coverts seem to be darker. At the very least I would assume white axillaries and white coverts to be showing up in the photo where the white flight feathers are most visible and they do not seem to be. With the photos of the birds back, there does not seem to be any white on the upper back, but it is also not a great angle. The nape does seem to be golden in the photos, but light and contrast with shadows could be at play. All-in-all it seems to be good for a subadult Golden with these traits photographed.

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS 90D

Lens

100-400mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM | Contemporary 017

ISO

400

Focal length

400 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/8.0

Shutter speed

1/3200 sec

Dimensions

1253 pixels x 1253 pixels

Original file size

61.93 KB