Buzzard Ballet

Gallery: AvianPosted January 23, 201186 views5 comments

I had the pleasure today of watching a Crested Caracara chase off a Turkey Vulture at Brazoria NWR. During the encounter the two birds flew in unison for several minutes before the TV decided to move on. The action was quite a ways off, so my shots are not technically very strong, but the image in my brain is spectacular.

Canon 1D MK4, 600 MM, 1/1000 @ f7.1, ISO 800
Manual Exp., Spot Metered, Tripod - Crop 30% of full frame

Thanks for looking.

Comments

5 comments

Comment posted by Angela McCain on January 23, 2011 at 11:31 PM

Really cool Randy. Actually quite a good view of both birds and there is quite a bit of detail in the caracara's tail feathers. And you can see the great color in the caracara's face.

Registered on April 19, 2009, 367 Posts, 3589 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on January 24, 2011 at 12:36 AM

Thanks for posting this even with your reservations about the distance. It is very nice to see the size comparison here between these two carrion specialists.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Graham Brown on January 24, 2011 at 2:24 AM

Nicely captured it must have been great to watch. It always seems that the larger raptors are chased off by smaller birds. Although it's a biggish crop there is still plenty of detail to see. Graham

Registered on November 20, 2007, 275 Posts, 1365 Comments

Comment posted by Catherine Reilly on January 24, 2011 at 3:41 AM

Can well imagine the thrill watching these two, Randy. This is very good given the crop; plenty of detail to ID both birds. Well done.

Registered on August 16, 2006, 603 Posts, 9192 Comments

Comment posted by Albert Darmo on January 25, 2011 at 6:13 PM

Hi Randy

This is a great action shot of those two birds, too bad they were so far away. thanks for sharing the action.

Albert Darmo. Canada

Registered on November 25, 2008, 1386 Posts, 11978 Comments