Weird Blur at summit of Mauna Kea

I shot this photo last weekend at the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii. The summit is home to the largest astronomy observatories in the world. This shot was the only one where we're all facing the same direction. The camera was on the ground pointing up at around a 45 degree angle. The summit is at 13,796 ft. I was up there for quite a while taking photos and enjoying the sights. On the way down while reviewing my pictures I saw a blur that seemed bird like. That bothered me since I didn't recall seeing any birds, planes or helicopters while at the summit.

Any ideas what that blur is? sorry if this is something lame, but the factors around this deserve a second guess.

I would be willing to bet that is a bird. You can even make out the wings. Not too many bird at that elevation though.

Here is a areal photo I found online. I pointed out the peak where we were.


The elevation is what throws me off. Along with the fact that i don't recall seing any birds up there.

I think it's a bird as well-If you look closely, it looks like it's flying at a sideways angle: There are what appear to be faint wings above and below it.

I also suspect that this is a "blird."

A blurred bird. One of the bad thing about these digital cameras is that they can sometimes have a surprisingly slow shutter speed, even in what would appear to be total, bright sunlight. As a result, anything that moves in the photo will come out as a blur. And sure enough, the common aerodynamic shape of a bird, with its wings in certain positions, takes on a very suggestive "saucer" shape.

I'm still having a issue with altitude. I've searched for a while now and it seems that most birds stick to the 10,000 ft and below elevations. I don't know much about birds but another 4,000 ft seems like alot. Any bird watchers out there?

Picture settings:
shutter speed 1/250
f stop 5.6
iso 125

Well the highest flying bird in the world is the bar headed goose which fly at nearly 30,000ft but that is over the Himalayas not Hawaii!

I can't find any details of a bird that would fly that high in Hawaii.

It could be a fly flying past the lens?

It could be a bug, it looks like its close to the lens to me.

[edit on 31-5-2007 by jon_1983]

I also believe that to be a bug and not a bird.
I am gonna make the basic assumption that based on altitude its not a bird and appearing closer to the camera it is a bug.

a UFO Bug

It's probably a Nene. The Big Island is one of their habitats, and they live on the slopes of Mauna Kea.

I think it's a bug and it's quite close to the camera.

Originally posted by Zaphod58
It's probably a Nene. The Big Island is one of their habitats, and they live on the slopes of Mauna Kea.

I believe they actually live on the slopes of Mauna Loa. They are an endangered species and are under fairly heavy obsevation. They also have rather weak wings.

As for the bug idea... I felt pretty stupid for not even considering bugs. The most likely option thus far I believe.
In the original full res picture the blur appears to be in the background though. I guess that could be my eyes playing with me.

Their primary habitat is on Mauna Loa, but they've been seen on Mauna Kea as well. Yah, I know they have weak wings but they still fly fairly well when they want to. I've seen a few that my family almost hit flying really fast when they had to.