Bird Id Part 2.5

[jfelbab]

Anyone have a clue as to what this is?

[paulnj]

It's a vulture... as in TRUE VULTURE from a non US country IMHO.

[jfelbab]

Maybe that explains why this was nearby.

[paulnj]

Where did you shoot these? Look at the lower mandible on that herbavore... MY GOD that looks like a cow !!

[Lava Lamp]

I don't think we've had one of these in any of the ID posts. Thought it was a Willet for a moment, but don't think it is...

[paulnj]

It's a yellowlegs, hence the YELLOW legs ;) I am not too good at the lesser/ greater ID, but I would say it's a GREATER YELLOWLEGS.

[Knight]

One from today dont know what he is , but im almost sure hes not a Great Gray owl.

So Paulnj ?

[paulnj]

YOU ROCK!!!!!

Though I have seen a decent number of them in Florida, NJ, NY, and even Ontario. I do not have but one image of a.... BARRED OWL. Your's is even in the open, which BTW is odd in itself! This Owl has mostlikely been forced to relocate and feed by day due to snow cover.

[Knight]

Kinda figured it was not a Great Gray by the color of its eyes. Are these owls territorial Paulnj ? Any chance this guy is gonna stick around for the winter ? If so i may be able to get a few better shots of Him or Her

[paulnj]

Yes they are territorial , as are all bird species, but only on breeding grounds usually. This owl will stay in the area if food supply is abundant and people don't bother it too much(they are secretive and like dense swampy conifer growths from my experience in summer atleast). Not that trying to photograph it periodicly is bad, but constant pestering by people will make it move on after awhile.

Good luck !

[Lava Lamp]

But now I'm not so sure. Here's the first exposure. Paul, what do you usually set your camera to catch a flying backlit hawk like this?.

[Lava Lamp]

Tried to bring out more detail...

[srobb]

Really nice job bringing out the details, lava. I am not Paul so I will not hazard a guess as yet. I will try to start id'ing after Christmas when I (hopefully) will have my bird book. I have seen some really red tails, but have not had a real good shot at them.

Paul, I would be interested in what your settings are for that as well.

[paulnj]

I knew what it was even dark like the first.The second tells me it's age though ;)

What you have here is a juvenile redtailed hawk.

My setting for hawks in flight are not set in stone as you can imagine, but +1ev 5600k WB is a good start. I shoot RAW+JPEG , so if I do get a sweet shot, i can always adjust the raw as a last resort.

I am not fond of editing as I prefer to shoot shoot shoot.

.