BCLoco

Yes, of course! And a quick search showed me dozens of raven pics with the same effect. I'm not sure why I don't see ravens here more frequently. I'd quite forgotten just how large they can be.

Another one this week over Beckwith, Ontario. Right around noon today, this one flew directly over the house. Turkey vultures are always flying overhead here, usually multiple times daily. However, the last few days have seen an exceptionally heavy presence for whatever reason. This one caught my eye because it wasn't flying at all like the vultures. It had a very flat flight profile compared to the vultures, was approximately 15% smaller, and it came in from the west, whereas virtually all of the turkey vultures I've observed lately have come from the east (our prevailing wind is from the west). It didn't do any circling, just a sort of buttonhook pattern over the house and disappeared to the south. I apologize for the clarity of the picture. It was flying fairly low, but still high enough to be near the useful limit of my lens. Although I can see similarities to the turkey vultures, the way it is holding the feet and the shape of the tail, combined with the much more hawk-like flight pattern it exhibited, have me at a loss.

So we have a consensus that this is a juvenile Broad-winged hawk? Excellent. Thank you for your expertise.

Here is the above view from when it went over to check out what the drone was. I was starting an aerial survey of a section of our woods near our eastern property line, when this one made its appearance over a field to the west of us. I didn't pay it much attention until I saw it buzz across my screen. Thankfully it just seemed to be checking out the drone. It would have been an awful chore trying to find and retrieve a drone from that patch of woods. I included a screen grab, as we might not often get a chance to see the same hawk in flight from both above and below. HawkFlyPast.avi HawkFlyPast.MP4.10524.Still001.tif

If anyone could definitively tell me what species my new friend here is, that would be much appreciated! Everything I could gather from internet image searches has me thinking it might be a (juvenile?) Broad-winged hawk. He/she has become a regular morning visitor over our property here in Beckwith, Ontario (roughly equal parts mixed forest, open fields, and marsh), and has taken an interest in my drone flights. I'll post a follow-up with a video clip.