ML605819221

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

[TAB notes] Upon hearing that Noah Arthur had seen two Least Storm-Petrels at Spring Valley Lake, we decided to skip our stop at Glen Helen Regional Park and go straight there. Upon arriving we observed at least four Least Storm-Petrels over the central portion of the lake as viewed from the beach at the south end. I poured a little bit of fish oil in the water (we were fortunate to have a breeze from the south) hoping to attract the storm-petrels closer. It worked remarkably well as within minutes we had two Least Storm-Petrels within meters of the shore. Number continued to accumulate, with several more storm-petrels coming toward the shore to investigate the fish oil slick, and several more still flying out over the middle of the lake. We made multiple scans of the lake to try and get an accurate count. During this observation period we counted up to 15 storm-petrels with three Wedge-rumpeds and 12 Least. Numbers did appear to build during the hour plus of the morning we were here, though I'm not certain if these were birds coming in from the desert finding their way to water, or birds in different arms of the lake coalescing around the fish oil, or a combination of both. Birds were definitely more active in the morning, as when we returned in the afternoon most of the birds seemed content to sit on the water with only a few flying around at any one time. These were very small storm-petrels with entirely blackish plumage and short, wedge-shaped tails. The flew with relatively direct flight and deep wing strokes. This species was the dominant storm-petrel associated with the fallout from Hurricane/Tropical Storm Hilary.

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS R7

Lens

EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM

ISO

640

Focal length

400 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/5.6

Shutter speed

1/2500 sec

Dimensions

2403 pixels x 2105 pixels

Original file size

744.19 KB