Crested Caracara (a.k.a. Northern Caracara, Mexican Eagle; Caracara plancus cheriway) - Ritch Grissom Memorial Wetlands (Viera Wetlands), Melbourne, Florida

My thanks to some wonderful folk, who pedaled a mile back to where I was on the loop to tell me where this guy was located. Sometimes I think half the fun of taking pictures is the people I meet in the process.
You know who you are!

Tags:   KH0831 Florida bird Animal Portrait Caracara cheriway audubonii Caracara cheriway Caracara cheriway audubonii Eukaryota Animalia Chordata Aves Falconiformes Falconidae plancus Caracara plancus Caracara plancus cheriway Polyborus falcon Nature

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Crested Caracara (a.k.a. Northern Caracara, Mexican Eagle; Caracara plancus cheriway) taking flight from a Southern Longleaf Pine (Pinus palustris) - Ritch Grissom
Memorial Wetlands (Viera Wetlands), Melbourne, Florida

I'd heard this guy had been seen at the Viera Wetlands, yet during my 6 or so visits to the wetlands
I had yet to see it. This time I saw what I thought was a Black Vulture on the wing in the distance,
but then thought, wait a second, that guy has a white tail!
I then looped the loop until I got close to where it had landed and made these captures.

I had my camera set to "one shot" mode for a sitting subject, but luckily my DOF was good enough to keep it in focus when it suddenly decided to take off.

Tags:   KH0831 Florida bird Caracara cheriway audubonii Caracara cheriway Caracara cheriway audubonii ThousandPlus 1000+ Top 1000 Eukaryota Animalia Chordata Aves Falconiformes Falconidae plancus Caracara plancus Caracara plancus cheriway Polyborus falcon Nature

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Crested Caracara (a.k.a. Northern Caracara, Mexican Eagle; Caracara plancus cheriway) Portrait - Moccasin Island Tract, St. Johns River Water Management District, Viera, Florida

When you have good glass and lotsa pixels, crops don't stop outa the box. So, here I took a full frame / full body vertical capture, and cropped it three different ways with this being the 8x12 head and shoulder portrait crop.

Tags:   KH0831 Florida Macro Bird Eukaryota Animalia Chordata Aves Falconiformes Falconidae Caracara plancus cheriway Caracara plancus Caracara plancus cheriway Polyborus falcon Nature

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Adolescent Crested Caracara (a.k.a. Northern Caracara, Mexican Eagle; Caracara plancus cheriway) - US 27, Moore Haven, Florida (26.772451, -81.083283)

And the 8 x 10 crop for the Yearbook

With a Florida roadside BG, complete with Spanish Needle (a.k.a. Beggarticks, Hitch Hikers, Black-jack, Farmer'sFriends; Bidens pilosa)

Tags:   KH0831 Florida Bird Eukaryota Animalia Chordata Aves Falconiformes Falconidae Caracara plancus cheriway Caracara plancus Caracara plancus cheriway Polyborus A1_03888 Nature

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Crested Caracara (a.k.a. Northern Caracara, Mexican Eagle; Caracara plancus cheriway) - Ritch Grissom Memorial Wetlands (Viera Wetlands), Melbourne, Florida

Tags:   KH0831 Florida FOVW bird Animal Portrait Caracara cheriway audubonii Caracara cheriway Caracara cheriway audubonii Macro Eukaryota Animalia Chordata Aves Falconiformes Falconidae plancus Caracara plancus Caracara plancus cheriway Polyborus falcon Nature

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