Broad-winged Hawks

[Alan Murphy]

Broad-winged Hawks

Smith Point, TX

D3, 200-400 @ 200MM, ISO 800, f4, 1/5000.

Got this one this morning as a huge kettle of Hawks flew over head.
This is just a small portion of the kettle but I could only zoom back to 200 MM.
I believe there may be a Mississippi Kite in there too.

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Cool shot, bigger might be better or more density but a different perspective.

Great sky and underwings are not too dark - well done.

[Harshad Barve]

Super shot Alan , so many hawks , nice sky color
TFS

[arash_hazeghi]

Never seen so many hawks at the same time!

[Sinh Nhut Nguyen]

This is so cool, do you know why the congregate like this in one area?

[Bill Jobes]

Love it, Alan !
Great exposure and sharpness.
Gotta love that body and lens!

[Alan Murphy]

This is so cool, do you know why the congregate like this in one area?

Yes, they are migrating to the tropics. They form these large kettles and ride the thermals together.

[denise ippolito]

Nice Alan, It's cool to see all those hawks in one shot. I might clean up the birds on the very edge. I love it!

[Gerald Kelberg]

More hawks here than I have ever seen! I was left wondering which one was the Mississippi Kite, but couldn't pick it out from the others.

I took a similar shot in the spring of some common cranes and was wondering if the collective term "kettle" also applies to them, or does it only apply to hawks and other raptors?

Regards,

Gerald