SwiftsAndSwallows
Member
My sister and I spotted three birds that we couldn't ID while on a kayaking trip to Rocky Fork today (August 13th).
The first bird looked like a great egret but larger, maybe a little bigger than a blue heron. It flew like a blue heron in the way that it held its head and legs, but its wing movements were slightly different. It stood like a heron, too, except with its neck less scrunched up. The undersides of its wings were black, almost exactly like a wood stork. We only saw it from afar or when it was flying overhead.
The second bird was approximately robin-sized with an all grey body, black head, and white ring around its neck. It had a long beak. It was flying too fast for us to notice many more details. It flew in circles around our kayaks a couple of times. When it was flying, it kept its head straight in front of it so that it looked flat.
The third bird only flew over us for a moment, but it looked to be some kind of hawk. My sister said it had a beak like a bird of prey and a white head and belly with light brown wings. It was about the size of a red-tailed hawk and gliding to prepare to land in a tree.
Any help identifying these birds is greatly appreciated!!
The first bird looked like a great egret but larger, maybe a little bigger than a blue heron. It flew like a blue heron in the way that it held its head and legs, but its wing movements were slightly different. It stood like a heron, too, except with its neck less scrunched up. The undersides of its wings were black, almost exactly like a wood stork. We only saw it from afar or when it was flying overhead.
The second bird was approximately robin-sized with an all grey body, black head, and white ring around its neck. It had a long beak. It was flying too fast for us to notice many more details. It flew in circles around our kayaks a couple of times. When it was flying, it kept its head straight in front of it so that it looked flat.
The third bird only flew over us for a moment, but it looked to be some kind of hawk. My sister said it had a beak like a bird of prey and a white head and belly with light brown wings. It was about the size of a red-tailed hawk and gliding to prepare to land in a tree.
Any help identifying these birds is greatly appreciated!!
We're both new to birding and its crazy how different seeing a bird in person can be from seeing it in pictures.
