ML566663711
Contributor
Date
Location
- Age
- Not specified
- Sex
- Not specified
Observation details
I was guiding a birding tour this morning at Panama Flats when I ran into Les Peterson. After a bit of chitchatting about the local birds, Les brought op he had an unusual looking gull the night before, one with a pale eye - he said. He showed me two photos on his phone, and I - assuming I would lay eyes on a weird RBGU or something, felt the blood sink in my both legs when I saw these photos. I knew what I was looking at, but was in denial. I said goodbye to Les, walked a few more 100 meters while trying to keep my cool, and decided I had to get my hands on these photos again. I basically begged him to send me the shots over WhatsApp, which he swiftly did. Upon seeing these photos, it took me a few more seconds to be fully convinced (it just seemed so unlikely) before I texted it out on our WhatsApp group. A few horrible hours went by, and I think it is safe to say everyone wondered about this bird and if it would actually show up again. I ran into Ann N. later that afternoon, who was making it her mission to refind this bird. It ended up being Eric Tull who found it around 3:20 PM, and I raced out of home again to be in time to see it. We observed it very well for about 50 minutes, after which an eagle (of course) kicked up the whole flock, the bird flew over us - producing multiple long calls - and disappeared in southerly direction. It is unclear if it will return, but definitely a good idea to keep posting at this location, or check gull flocks farther south. PLUMAGE: typical adult BTGU with very worn primary tips but long wing projection, black subterminal band in the tail, bright yellow feet, bill with bright red tip and fully dark band, dark mantle (LBBG shade) and light yellow eye. Red orbital. MIND MELTER
Technical information
- Model
- Canon EOS R7
- Lens
- EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM
- ISO
- 400
- Focal length
- 400 mm
- Flash
- Flash did not fire
- f-stop
- f/5.6
- Shutter speed
- 1/1600 sec
- Dimensions
- 2528 pixels x 1685 pixels
- Original file size
- 3.22 MB