ML206994791

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

One adult and one juvenile seen while seawatching in very strong north-westerly winds. Juvenile (very crappy photos included) with unmistakable black M over wings, black patch on back of head, angular wings and differing flight style from the non-pelagic gulls present. I saw it fly by at fairly close range and it landed briefly on the water, which is when I took some photos with my phone through my scope. Adult passed by at rather close range, with pale plumage overall, entirely black wing tips, yellow-ish bill, and some shading behind the head. Similar to the juvenile, the flight style differed markedly from the other gulls and felt more "confident" in the very strong winds. Having seen thousands of black-legged kittiwakes elsewhere, I recognize their style and structure. I saw another dozen gulls further out that might have also been kittiwakes, but I'll leave the reported number to just those two that came closer and allowed positive ID.

Technical information

Model

SM-G960U

Lens

Samsung Galaxy S9 Rear Camera

ISO

160

Focal length

4.3 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/2.4

Shutter speed

0.02 sec

Dimensions

2048 pixels x 1536 pixels

Original file size

730.67 KB