ML58936061

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

At approximately 3:00pm at a location somewhere around 5.7321436N 100.1709366E which is about 20km westward off the coast of Tanjung Dawai, Kedah, the observer was on a working anchovy purse seiner boat. The boat had case its purse seine net and was attracting many seabirds that included, amongst others, a dark morph Long-Tailed Jaeger, some 15 Short-Tailed Shearwaters and many terns. A single large skua travelling from north to south then interrupted the other seabirds and caused the Shearwaters to scatter (they were unperturbed by the Long-Tailed Jaeger that focused on harassing the terns). A burst sequence of photographs was taken by the observer using a Canon 70D DSLR camera with a Canon EF 400mm F/5.6L USM lens attached thereto at the rapidly-moving skua which soon disappeared out of view. Whilst initially identified as a Pomarine Jaeger, the photos revealed large white flashes on the primaries, a large head and a very heavy bill. Opinions sought with Australian birders were unanimously in favour of South Polar Skua as, amongst others, it had a cold brown overall colour, no speckling on the upperparts but contrasting pale nape, and obvious pale nape contrasting with the dark mantle.

Technical information

Dimensions

1240 pixels x 816 pixels

Original file size

583.75 KB