Post your best bird shots!

[Joel Eade]

Brant,

Great shots, my experience with eye AF is similar to yours, can't wait for chances at flight shots.

I think the Harrier has more of a "mask" with light colored areas around it's eyes.

I find some of these raptors difficult to ID .... this one, I think, is a Sharp Shinned Hawk


Hawkhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_harrier

[Kayaker72]

I think the Harrier has more of a "mask" with light colored areas around it's eyes.

I find some of these raptors difficult to ID .... this one, I think, is a Sharp Shinned Hawk

The alternative I had been considering was a juvenile Cooper's Hawk. Interestingly, even though I can find where Massachusetts is well within the territory for Sharp Shinned Hawks, the Merlin App doesn't list it as an option, which is odd . Looking at this a bit more, Cooper's hawks and Sharp Shinned Hawks are very similar as one of the first things to pop up on a search of either is how to identify one over the other. This comparison references that Sharp Shinned hawks are closer in size to a blue jay and Cooper's hawks more like a crow. What I saw on Saturday was larger, more crow sized, so I am leaning juvenile Cooper's hawk at this point, but honestly, I have seen pictures of female N. Harriers, juvenile Sharp Shinned Hawks, and juvenile Cooper's hawks that are close. So.....