ML619498114

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

Rare but inside known narrow window of occurrence. Probably increasing in our area due to climate-change-related range-expansion. Two very brief observations, separated by two or three minutes. First glimpsed circling through gaps in the canopy, where my immediate reaction was "what is that strange gull-like raptor?," followed immediately by realization that it "had to be" a Mississippi Kite. I thought it was possible the bird would come around again and moved about 25' up the trail where there was a somewhat larger hole in the leaf cover above. Although I had my camera at the ready I'm afraid I must have initially focussed on the canopy layer as I was tracking the bird, and never took my finger sufficiently off of the shutter to get refocus. The result is these dismal photos, which I think nonetheless confirm the i.d. Peregrine Falcon can sometimes present almost like this, but the archetypal kite tail shape, with its sharp-cornered wedge, is by itself near-conclusive for the species. (Sharp-shinned Hawk, which this obviously isn't based on wing structure, might present a tail a bit like this). The wings give very much the impression of a gull, with the tail again eliminating all possible species, and the head is longer and aquiline, clearly rapacious and not gull. Osprey is sometimes confused with Mississippi Kite but does not in my experience hold its tail in this twist-in-the-wind fashion. Osprey is also broader-winged than this, and furthermore, despite the soft focus, the hints of tone on the belly of the bird in these photos show the exposure isn't completely off--were this an Osprey a lot of white would be visible. After the second circling pass I did not get another look at this bird, leaving me somewhat unsatisfied with the viewing experience, but not the identification.

Technical information

Model

Canon PowerShot SX70 HS

Lens

3.8-247mm

ISO

100

Focal length

162.5 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/8.0

Shutter speed

1/125 sec

Dimensions

3888 pixels x 3888 pixels

Original file size

914.22 KB