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So I saw this Bird of Prey today... (1 Viewer)

Klant

Well-known member
My first take on it was a goshawk female, since it was big and gray. The things that makes me wonder about this is that the bird looked "top heavy" (as in it had a big face) and flew with a few (pretty fast) shallow flaps, and then glided while maintaining level flight. It repeated this for a couple of times (5?) while I saw it, for about 400 meters or so. It also almost looked too big to be a goshawk. The flight also didn't look aggressive enough.

The candidates up here, that I can think of, this time of year, would be goshawk, ural owl and great grey owl. Any suggestions, comments and ideas about the ID would be greatly appreciated!
 
Great Grey Owl has such a big head that it's hard to mistake it for a Goshawk; furthermore, seen from the side, the front part looks like being cut off. Hawk Owl is rather brown than grey. The flight pattern sounds well for female Goshawk in distance flight. They seem to be giants sometimes. Could it be you saw the bird mostly from behind and therefore the heavy breast caused the "top heavy" impression?
Lou
 
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