ML23575531

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

I saw this small bird and said "Hey, look at that small falcon" then my mind tried to figure out why there was a white rump showing on this bird. Will Anderson exclaimed almost instantly, that it was a "Storm-Petral!". We got out of the truck and started taking pictures while Don parked the truck. Between checking photos taken already and watching the bird and pouring over the details in the Sibley Guide, we realized we had a Leach's Storm-Petrel in front of us, over the water, in the bay. Identifying marks that moved us from Wilson's to Leach's were: Obvious large pale upper wing bars that were well defined, tail longer than feet, white rump area bisected by a dark stripe down the middle traveling to the dark tail. tail very forked. As we watched this bird, it flew and worked it's way around the far corner toward the post office area where we followed it. Excellent looks at this bird from all our party which included Don Kirker, Will Anderson, Brook and Orion O'Connor and Myself using binoculars, scopes and cameras. This is my first Storm-Petral seen, as I don't do Pelagic trips due to sea sickness. Will Anderson and Don Kirker have seen them before to the best of my knowledge. EDIT: Bird was later captured when it collapsed due to exhaustion/lack of food and was taken to Bird Rescue. Positive ID on Leaches Storm-Petrel.

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS REBEL T2i

ISO

800

Focal length

300 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

Shutter speed

1/250 sec

Dimensions

1280 pixels x 800 pixels

Original file size

200.99 KB