ML97528571

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

Relocated here after it flushed west from the end of Schneider Mill Court. From rare bird report for MBRC: "Originally perched on small dead shrubs at the end of Schneider Mill Court, then got flushed by a Cooper’s Hawk and flew west. It was then refound at Kaufman Sports Complex where it was observed hawking from the tops of chain link fences for several hours; it would fly quite high or for quite long distances before returning to its original perch or landing 20-30 feet farther down the fence. Constantly and energetically bobbing its tail. Occasionally took high flight and landed on a fence far away. It was heard vocalizing sporadically, especially right after I relocated it at the sports complex. At the sports complex it twice perched incidentally in the same area as two Eastern Phoebes, although it did not seem to be directly associating with them. At about 12:50 the three observers present (me, Alec Olivier, and Jeff Knoop) were all very briefly preoccupied and somehow completely lost track of the bird—it vanished and was not seen again from then on." "Vocalized several times; call was a clear and rather rich descending whistle lasting less than one second. Sang twice; song was a similarly rich and clear “whip whoEEEeww”, quite fast with the last phrase going from low to high to low in pitch and descending at the end." "Even before getting binoculars on it, immediately knew it was a phoebe of some sort by gestalt. Slim flycatcher with medium-length slightly-notched tail, peaked head, and thin bill. Noticeably larger than Eastern Phoebes nearby, and appeared slightly larger than a nearby Eastern Bluebird. Bill dark and fairly short with a narrow but rounded (not at all hooked) tip. Eyes appeared all dark. Legs and feet dark gray. Overall a grayish bird; back, crown, breast, and much of face all medium gray. Auriculars and especially the lores a darker gray; throat distinctly paler gray but not particularly contrasting with the rest of the bird. Wings and tail dark gray. Gray upper breast blended into a wonderful peachy cinnamon color on the rest of the underparts. This color intensified lower down on the underparts and was brightest in the undertail coverts and especially the vent."

Technical information

Model

Canon PowerShot SX60 HS

ISO

400

Focal length

247 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/6.5

Shutter speed

1/320 sec

Dimensions

3028 pixels x 2271 pixels

Original file size

1.44 MB