ML76460361

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

Unmistakable. Medium-sized hawk, sharply contrasting black and white striped tail/back, solid russet red front. Beautiful, crisp adult. I am familiar with this species from Texas. It was perched on the power line along the road in front of Ferrellgas. I drive this highway daily and am familiar with the "usuals" that perch on power lines here, and this one caught my attention immediately. As I passed it, I shouted, "That was NOT a Red-Tail, it was a Red-Shouldered, 100% confident!" I made the sharpest high-speed turn I've ever made in my life, telling my friend to grab the camera and get the settings ready. We pulled back over onto the shoulder near where it was, but it flew; luckily, it was just going from one power line to the next, and it landed on another line still by Ferrellgas. We both got excellent looks and several pictures before driving away, leaving it still perched on the line.

Technical information

Model

NIKON D300S

ISO

1600

Focal length

200 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/5.6

Shutter speed

1/160 sec

Dimensions

625 pixels x 759 pixels

Original file size

270.16 KB