ML619565480

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

Rare; but annual wanderer. About 5-10 minutes after I arrived I spotted two mid-sized raptors making tight circles near to one another in the vicinity of the cell tower. These individuals flew very gracefully as they dipped and dove to acquire prey items that they would nibble upon on the wing. Periodically they would flap their wings showing deep, and buoyant wing beats. I was able to observe these birds for close to 5 minutes as they continued to engage in these behaviors. These birds had pale-heads that projected minimally in flight, pale-breasts, long pointed wings, gray mantles, and dark primaries. Their tails were somewhat long, black on top and came to a sharp 90º corner at the end, when fanned it gave the impression on a ‘narrow waist’. I didn’t get the impression they were full adults because I couldn’t detect white on the upper trailing end of the secondaries. Very distant, however I believe identifiable photos.

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS 7D Mark II

Lens

EF400mm f/5.6L USM

ISO

320

Focal length

400 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/5.6

Shutter speed

1/2000 sec

Dimensions

1064 pixels x 706 pixels

Original file size

80.05 KB