ML620897168

Age and sex

Adult Male - 1

Behaviors

Flying

Media notes

Cropped iPhone shot. By this time, he had transferred the food item.

Observation details

Initially I saw a brown-plumaged bird with whitish patches at the "wrist" in flight, but couldn't determine female or juvenile. A bit later, I encountered a brown bird standing isolated on the turf. It was in my sight for at least 15 minutes (not continuously) and did not change position other than turning its head. At a moment my attention was elsewhere, I heard a squeaky call note and as I turned I heard a second, lower-pitched, repeating harsh note. I turned to see 3 birds in flight. Eventually I determined they were 2 harriers and a vulture. My attention locked onto the scolding bird that was flying directly toward me. It was an adult male carrying a dark object, presumably food, in one talon. It kept scolding and circling above me for quite a while. The second harrier was very likely the bird that had been on the turf, since a check of its former location came up empty. After some time (a minute?) the male broke away from me and was followed by the brown bird. When they were some distance away, the male dropped its item and the second bird appeared to catch it then drop to the ground. The male then returned to scolding and circling overhead. As I walked away, it gave up its complaints. At the time of observation, I believed I had made a "feeding young" observation, but after reviewing harrier behavior I am confident it was a male provisioning a mate (while I never had an excellent look at the brown bird in flight, I think I would have noticed the rusty-orange plumage of a juvenile; I also suspect it's a bit early to expect fledged young). I assume I was close to young, nestbound or not, hidden in the vegetation. Coding as CF, because it was. Also possible DD or, certainly, A.

Technical information

Model

iPhone 6s

Lens

iPhone 6s back camera 4.15mm f/2.2

ISO

25

Focal length

4.2 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/2.2

Shutter speed

1/1083 sec

Dimensions

195 pixels x 200 pixels

Original file size

12.33 KB