A hawk hovering over the Dominguez Gap Wetlands in November. I tried to figure out what sort it was, but I'm not up on hawks? Perhaps a female kestrel? I'm going mostly by the color of the underside and the fact that she(?) spent a lot of time hovering in the evening. I never got a good look at the upper wings, and I am no good yet on comparative wing shape etc.
It was beautiful, in any case, white against the evening sky.
Definitely looks falcon-like to me, shape-wise, though the bit of the face I can see seems a bit light for a kestrel. However, down south you guys may have different colour morphs than we do up here; kestrels are pretty variable. How big was she?
ReplyDeleteWhat about a kite? What sorts of kites do you guys have around?
I'm not too good at size-estimates, and it wasn't close-close, but I'd say on the smallish side. Definitely not red-tailed size (by a lot). Perhaps a foot and a half or so in wing span?
DeleteKites... *Runs to look up
White-Tailed Kite is the only one I can find offhand.
Yeah, and probably too small then for a kite. Must have been a kestrel or some such! Cool!
ReplyDeleteI wish I had gotten a better look *and* a better picture, but it was evening, and she(?) was against the light most of the time. So my impressions were beautiful, smallish, and whitish.
DeleteThat is a White-tailed Kite :-)
ReplyDelete