ML250878001

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

Kevin Wyckoff saw this bird from Morse Park sitting on a raft near the beach. Bird was not present when I chased it right away. Someone refound it about three hours later at the far north end mud flats. I saw the bird in good light and obtained dozens of photos from the bridge. From my IBRC documentation, in part: Upperparts were a dark brown with some blackish highlights throughout. Nape was mostly white with a few small brown smudges present. Crown was grayish brown and extended from just in front of the eye to where the nape started to the auriculars. The forecrown was the lightest in color and appeared to be more gray than brown while the auriculars were the darkest area of the head. The remaining area of the head (especially the loral region) was white and this white extended onto the underside of the bird (100% white body underneath). Primaries seen from above while in flight were all brown. Secondaries were brown but had a white trailing edge. Did not notice tail well enough to comment. I believe the bird to be an adult in basic plumage or a first summer bird acquiring its definitive basic plumage. Head and bill (size, shape, coloration, eye, color, eye ring): Eye appeared oval-shaped and was encompassed within the crown patch but was clearly visible. Bill was a few inches long (3 inches?) and was orange-red at the base and black on the distal end. The orange part of the bill represented about 30-40% of the bill with the black accounting for the remainder. The upper mandible was angled downward and was shorter than the lower mandible. The lower mandible ended in a sharp point. Legs, feet (length, color): Legs were reddish-orange. In flight (profile, color patterns, wing and tail length, wingbeats): Bird was seen in flight for a total of 60+ seconds. The bird had a long wingspan that seemed to be as long or slightly longer than the Ring-billed Gulls. Wings were more tern-like than gull-like and were sharply pointed. Flight was buoyant.

Technical information

Model

E4300

ISO

100

Focal length

28.8 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/4.9

Shutter speed

5/376 sec

Dimensions

1194 pixels x 899 pixels

Original file size

766.52 KB