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Birds of prey, Mallorca (1 Viewer)

stevethehydra

Well-known member
27th May 2024, Boquer Valley near Pollensa, Mallorca.

There were (at least) 2 different smaller birds of prey mobbing a Cinereous Vulture - the vulture was soaring fairly constantly, but the smaller birds came out from the cliffs for briefer periods. One looked quite pale and fairly "chunky", similar in size and build to a Common Buzzard - from the photos, I think this may be a Booted Eagle?

Another bird at the time seemed slimmer, darker and falcon-like - I was pretty sure it was a falcon, but I'm now slightly unsure if I actually photographed the bird that I thought I did, because the darker bird that I did capture also seems more like a buzzard/small eagle type than a falcon (though still seems slimmer and longer-winged than the probable Booted). Any ideas?

Photos 1-6 are the first bird, fairly definitely one individual. Photos 7-10 are the second (and/or maybe third), less certainly one individual. Vulture included for size comparison where I got both birds in the same shot.

bop1.JPGbop2.JPGbop3.JPGbop4.JPGbop5.JPGbop6.JPG

bop7.JPGbop8.JPGbop9.JPGbop10.JPG
 
I did wonder about a dark morph Booted for the second bird, but it seemed proportioned very differently to me - longer and slimmer wings, more slender overall. (Though as I said there may have been another bird, possibly a falcon sp, that I saw but didn't photograph, confusing matters - but I still get the slimmer and longer-winged impression from these pics...)
 
I did wonder about a dark morph Booted for the second bird, but it seemed proportioned very differently to me - longer and slimmer wings, more slender overall. (Though as I said there may have been another bird, possibly a falcon sp, that I saw but didn't photograph, confusing matters - but I still get the slimmer and longer-winged impression from these pics...)
It's pretty standard, a birds structure in flight can vary. Here's an awful image I took in France- appearing extremely long-tailed.
 

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This one was flying over Port de Soller on the 31st. On its own, so size was hard to judge. Another Booted, or something different?
 

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