ML608379791

Age and sex

Unknown age, Unknown sex - 1

Behaviors

Flying

Observation details

11:40!!! ***RARE, 1st Hawk Mountain Sanctuary record and maybe a county first for Schuylkill, too. Very high bird first seen straight out in front of lookout, cruising SW. I assumed Osprey when I initially saw black and white. As soon as I got it in binoculars, though, the long legs told a different story. I thought crane for a moment before I realized it was a Wood Stork and shouted that it was coming. Only a few visitors were on the lookout to see it pass high overhead, right through the sun and beyond our view. It never flapped or soared while we saw it. Photos are low quality with my camera and the bird's altitude, but they are diagnostic for Wood Stork. No other large North American bird has long, trailing legs and black flight feathers with a white body and rest of wings. Some people have wondered if this bird may have come up with the distant passing of Hurricane Idalia. This is possible, or maybe a bird that wandered north earlier in the summer and took advantage of this strong cold front to migrate back down the ridge. However, there are no other WOST eBird records this year north of Virginia in the eastern US. *Edit 9/12: I had neglected to add several details from this observation. Dr. Laurie Goodrich was the official counter and a key observer, too. She also got on this bird early and knew it was a WOST from many years of experience in Veracruz, MX. She felt comfortable calling it an adult bird based on her views. Documentation has been sent to PORC for review.

Technical information

Model

DMC-FZ35

ISO

80

Focal length

86.2 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/6.3

Shutter speed

1/500 sec

Dimensions

1944 pixels x 1451 pixels

Original file size

1.49 MB