ML618007237

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

Incubating presumed. Nest is in a picnic area, very close to the road, just south of the road approx location of nest: 29.1843014, -102.9653216 Nest is a huge stick nest reminiscent of the largest red-tailed hawk nests or a bald eagle nest. About 60 feet high in a dead cottonwood next to stream and road, surrounded by an open picnic type of area (sans picnic tables this section, perhaps because it is signed “closed for sensitive nesting black hawks”) with scattered large cottonwoods (some live some dead). There are nests in the adjacent trees, including a large nest in good shape 75 feet west of the nest tree (perhaps this pair’s alternate nest or a nest they used last year?) Nest is easily viewed from the road. No need to go into the closed area. At 1:00 PM this pull off had solid shade for our vehicle (29.1845289, -102.9651510) We waited about an hour to see a nest exchange. An adult flew in and one of them was calling. The incubating bird flew to the rim of the alternate nest where the other bird joined it and gave it a large frog. The bird with the frog flew west, presumably to eat in the shade and have a break. The bird that had just flown in went to a nearby cottonwood and did some bill swipes against the tree. After a couple minutes it flew up to the nest tree and paused next to the nest, then jumped into the nest to incubate. We assume eggs because the adults sat in the nest for long periods of time, and because there were no prey deliveries to the nest (because no chicks yet). When we drove by hours later we could see the incubating bird’s head sticking up over the rim of the nest, panting, visible right from the side of the road

Technical information

Model

ILCE-1

Lens

FE 600mm F4 GM OSS

ISO

400

Focal length

600 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/4.0

Shutter speed

1/2500 sec

Dimensions

7072 pixels x 5760 pixels

Original file size

7.63 MB