ML34039341

Age and sex

Juvenile, Unknown sex - X

Media notes

Long-tailed Jaeger, Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area, Yolo County, California

Observation details

First spotted as a dark larid roosting alone in the second of the August shorebird tracts, perhaps 50-60 yards out, while all the other gulls and terns were in the first (westernmost) of the tracts. As an all dark bird with pale markings on the wings my first thought was juvenile California Gull, but as I focused the scope it resolved into a compact larid with crisply contrasting white feather-edgings in that characteristic juvenile Long-tailed Jaeger pattern. I spent maybe 30-60 seconds looking at the bird at rest as one part of my brain shouted "That _really_ looks like a Long-tailed Jaeger!" and another part of my brain said "Slow down. Let's make sure there isn't some other more logical explanation for this bird." During this time I noted the relatively stubby bill and at one point when it turned its head there was a bit of a sheen to the head and neck when they caught the light. At that point the bird lifted off and began flying towards me. As it did so, the white wing flashes were clearly visible leaving no doubt. I raised my camera and kept firing until the bird flew far enough towards the sun that further photos were pointless. During that time the bird initially flew north towards me, then veered west (toward the sun making all of my photos severely backlit), and then drifted further north, where eventually I lost it in the scope as well. Once I stopped shooting and started following it in the scope it never flapped again, it just circled higher and higher and drifted further north until I lost track of it. The total time of observation was probably five minutes or so. Reviewing the literature, I would say it looks most like an intermediate morph juvenile. All of my photos were severely backlit so I had to increase the exposure in post-processing to bring out the detail.

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS 70D

Lens

EF400mm f/5.6L USM

ISO

200

Focal length

400 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/5.6

Shutter speed

1/1600 sec

Dimensions

748 pixels x 637 pixels

Original file size

124.72 KB