Contributor
Date
Location
- Age
- Not specified
- Sex
- Not specified
Observation details
The bird was seen resting in the water less than 100 metes from the bow of the ship were I was positioned, directly facing me. Other observers were on the bridge. The first thing noticed was that it had a very white, shiny forehead with a dark cap and a thick imposing black bill that looked too big for the size of the bird (like the impression you get with a P. macroptera) offering the impression of being short due to its thickness. Seconds afterwards, the bird took off, flying to our right and then away from us. At this point a few bad pictures were taken. We observed it had a notable very dark ‘M’ over a gray back that did not continue to cover the whole rump. The primary feathers were dark, as an extension of the same color found in the ‘M’. The tail was long (or seemed too long for a pterodroma) whitish, thought not quite as bright as the underparts and seemed to have a bit of dark smudge on the tip. It had a narrow and dark semi collar (similar in coloration to the cap and neck) and also a seemingly completely dark underwing. The rest of the underparts were almost completely white. The face was mostly white, and had notable ocular dark mark connected to the dark cap. Some of these details can be observed on the bad pictures included. The bird looked chunky overall, definitely bigger than P. mollis, a bird I’m very familiar with. Later on the trip near the I saw an individual P. madeira which in the field seemed to have definitely a longer thinner bill and a lot more white in the underwing. The depth of the water was around 1400 mts, temperature 26 C, seas were calm, there was no winds and very good light.
Technical information
- Model
- Canon EOS 5D Mark III
- Lens
- EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM
- ISO
- 400
- Focal length
- 400 mm
- Flash
- Flash did not fire, auto
- f-stop
- f/11.0
- Shutter speed
- 1/640 sec
- Dimensions
- 632 pixels x 439 pixels
- Original file size
- 268.08 KB