Western Marsh Harrier - Carl Haynie
Report

Contributor

Date

Location

Mole NP--Samole Loop & waterhole
Northern, Ghana
Media from this location Illustrated Checklist
Map
Map Coordinates: 9.2491286, -1.8610668
Age
Not specified
Sex
Not specified

Observation details

Main waterhole. Photo'd distantly after it landed in the grass on the far side of the waterhole. Then seen in flight for some time. Very brown overall. At the time, we considered Tawny Eagles. But Tawny Eagles have massive bills (see https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/313795111, for example). Analyzing my photos, Western Marsh Harriers can show several things that match up with our birds: (1) like Tawny Eagles, they can be very brown overall (see flight shot: https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/160310701), (2) can have pale looking crowns and whitish throats (see numerous examples in Macaulay Library like https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/426509151), (3) show daintier bills with less/no yellow in their ceres unlike Tawny Eagles. Playing with the saturation control on both of the attached photos, we are unable to find any yellowish pixels near the base of the bill.

Technical information

Model
DSC-RX10M4
Lens
8.8-220mm f/2.4-4.0
ISO
100
Focal length
220 mm
Flash
Flash did not fire
f-stop
f/5.0
Shutter speed
1/320 sec
Dimensions
1200 pixels x 799 pixels
Original file size
893.6 KB