ML380218941

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

First seen from playground area on southwest side of lake floating toward the other side of the lake. No binoculars or camera and I originally almost wrote it off as something common. However, we did have my scope and Sara encouraged me to look at it after I mentioned it looked a little strange. Once in the scope, I quickly identified this as a juvenile jaeger species. I texted others to get there to photo document it, and over the next 45 minutes I was able to view it extensively floating on the water (sometimes as close as ~75 feet) and in many flight forays as it harassed and parasitized Canada Geese and a Great Egret. Mike Yough, Landon Neumann, and Clay Billman all eventually saw it as well and Mike and Clay got great photos that we pored over while the bird was still there. Eventually the bird flew north and was re-found a bit later at the north end of the lake by Tim O'Connell and Kevin Wilson. Appeared to be sticking around as the sun went down. Regarding identification, we waffled on this quite a bit, but after seeing it first fly, we quickly ruled out Long-tailed Jaeger based on its relatively large, thick-bodied appearance and extensive white in the upper and lower primaries. The most prominent features viewed in real time were its thick-chested appearance and the double-flash of white in the lower primaries (i.e., a separated area of white with one patch on the outer primaries and one on the inner primaries). Both of these traits made me start thinking Pomarine in the field, though we were still waffling between this species and Parasitic. Study of photos (credit to Clay Billman and Mike Yough for getting some excellent photos and Clay's are attached to this checklist) revealed several other characteristics supportive of Pomarine, including 8 white shafts on the upper primaries (Parasitic should usually have 3-6), very heavily barred undertail coverts, and thick, hooked bill. Although body proportions varied slightly depending on the photo/angle, many pictures also showed the heavy bodied, thick chested shape that I sensed in the field, as well as the dramatic double-white patch on the lower primaries.

Technical information

Model

NIKON D750

Lens

150.0-600.0 mm f/5.0-6.3

ISO

500

Focal length

440 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/8.0

Shutter speed

1/1600 sec

Dimensions

1604 pixels x 1069 pixels

Original file size

366.44 KB