ML603787031

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

Wow, so cool to see such a high number of a near threatened species. I believe this is a Bahamas high count by over three times. As we pulled into the dock I saw just one of these birds, about 5 minutes later I saw 4 more and about 10 more minutes later a flock of about 40 flew by with hundreds more over the ocean. EXACT tally, bird by bird. About two hours of the checklist duration was spent counting and double checking IDs of these birds. I checked some past EBird data from the Bahamas to see if this was a normal thing but this seems like an over three times higher count than ever previously reported. I personally did not follow any birds to see where they landed for accuracy of the count, but I was told, the few another person in my group (non-birder) saw, landed on the island, as for the rest I don’t know. Really cool to see such large numbers of birds in a flock “together”. Wish I got more video documentation but was so captivated by the birds to even think about that until it quieted down. Can link a video if needed when I get back of a minute of the less active time of the count. All but 2 birds flying from the south to the north, most passing over the far southern point of the island until an Osprey began patrolling at 10:30. Near the start most flocks numbered about 40 birds but closer to the end it got closer to just a few, or single birds. Thought it had ended at 10:10 but nine birds flew by at 10:22 reactivating the count. Count from ~9 AM to 10:51 AM when I had to end the count. Less than 50 birds seen between 10:10 and the end of the count, most between 9 and 9:30. Edit: I added some bad pics of a few of the birds

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS Rebel T7

Lens

150-600mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM | Contemporary 015

ISO

2500

Focal length

451 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/6.3

Shutter speed

1/1000 sec

Dimensions

6000 pixels x 4000 pixels

Original file size

7.46 MB