ML50540221

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Media notes

page 64 of John Bradley's field notebook covering birds observed during a 1997 birding trip to the Philippines.

Observation details

Yes, I did record the observation in the field. See page 64 of my field notebook below. The bird as I remember was a fly-by. While birding in the Philippines, my method was to record immediately some descriptive features of the birds. The remarks I made in my notebook are: " -- cormorant -- bulk w white head and flanks," followed by " = great cormorant = Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis." This last definitive identification was not entered into my notebook until after my wife and I reviewed the illustrations (see below) in duPont's Philippine Birds, the descriptive text in that same volume. Part of the latter description included range: "Northern Luzon and offshore islands." So I was aware that the bird was out of the described range; but not by relatively "too" far. It was actually the only cormorant covered in duPont's book (and is still the only cormorant described in the more-recent A Guide to the Birds of the Philippines by R.S. Kennedy et al.) At same time we reviewed the duPont book illustrations, we also saw the "Oriental Anhinga" with which the cormorant conceivably be confused. But I immediately identified "cormorant" due to my sense of its gestalt. Both of us frequently see other species of cormorant along the west coast of California, Pelagic, Brandt's; and we are familiar with Red-faced (from Alaska trips) and Great (on east coast). My notes obviously do not go into any detail distinguishing it from anhinga.

Technical information

Model

iPhone 6 Plus

Lens

iPhone 6 Plus back camera 4.15mm f/2.2

ISO

40

Focal length

4.2 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/2.2

Shutter speed

1/60 sec

Dimensions

3264 pixels x 2448 pixels

Original file size

1.98 MB