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My first guess is a White-faced Heron, based on
your description of "grey, and flew with powerful, but slow and deep
wing-beats". As in how sure are you it was a raptor? Could the long-tail be
long legs. The way to pick raptors from herons, cockatoos. etc in these
conditions is how they hold their wings. Most raptors (not Whistling Kite &
Osprey) have basically straight wings in profile (I mean each wing considered
separately, not the tip to tip pattern and viewed from directly behind or in
front) whereas herons, cockatoos etc have curved wings.
Philip
-----Original Message-----
From:
Kim Sterelny <>
To:
Birding Aus <>
Date:
Sunday, 3 August 2003 18:56
Subject: [BIRDING-AUS] mystery
raptor
Hi
All
At about 4.15 this afternoon, walking down from the Black
Mountain
tower in Canberra, and just coming out onto the road that
seperates
the Botanical Gardens from the ANU campus, , I saw a
mysterious
raptor. I was first alerted by a series of extraodinary calls
- very
loud, very harsh; repeated, unlike anything I know. I was not
even
sure whether it was a bird at all. And then while I was hopelessly
fumbling in my bag to get my bins out, a raptor emerged at about
treetop high from the ANU side 50 or so meters away, crossed the road
and disappeared over the botanical gardens, giving a couple of those
calls as it went. I got no view of its head or face marking/colour
(my angle was wrong), but it was long-tailed, grey, and flew with
powerful, but slow and deep wing-beats. Quite a big bird; certainly
bigger than any of the local cockatoos (id guess about palm cockatoo
size)
any suggestions?
--
Kim Sterelny
Philosophy
Program
RSSS, ANU and
Philosophy Department
Victoria University
Wellington
e-mail
or m("vuw.ac.nz","Kim.Sterelny");">
ANU
Contact Information (July-December)
Philosophy Program
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of the Social Sciences
Australian National University
0200 Canberra,
ACT, Australia
phone
61- (0)2 6125-2886; messages: Di Crosse:
Administrator, Philosophy Program
61-(0)2 -6125 2341,
fax 61-(0)2
- 6125 3294
Victoria University Contact Information
(January-June)
Philosophy Program, Victoria University of Wellington,
PO Box 600,
Wellington, New Zealand
phone:
64-4-463 5233 x
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fax: 64-4-463 5130
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