ML607774801

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

****very rare and the species we were intentionally seeking, given that this seems to be squarely within the window of occurrence for this species; specifically in the LIS. After about 20 minutes of gull numbers building in the slick, TS got on a distant jaeger candidate which was flying quickly over the water, from the north. Initial impressions went back and forth between jaeger and LAGU; a testament to the bird's daintiness and size, but its overall dark plumage and fast, direct flight style made it stick out. Brent quickly got on the bird, and we were able to confirm it was a jaeger when it opened all of its flight feathers at once, braking from high speed and dropping down, which showed off much more of its overall shape and plumage. The bird was still relatively distant, but its presence seemed to scare most of the gulls and terns which were roosting on the water's surface. Fortunately (for us) the gulls scattered southward and the bird lazily followed, which put us directly in its path. Indeed, the bird flew in our direction and, ultimately, came directly over the stern of the boat which afforded us excellent views! It was a young, dark bird which was remarkably lithe with long wings and a relatively long tail. The head and face were remarkably "cute;" an appearance which was augmented by a tiny, stubby, bicolored bill. It was also clear that the bird was more of a cold-brown than young PAJAs and the underwing (and undertail) were checkered/barred with an attractive black and white spangling. Furthermore, the upperwing showed only the two outermost primary shafts as being bright white; the remainder were pale, but highly contrasting with the two outer feathers. The bird eventually carried on south and east out of sight. Photos to be added soon.

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS 80D

Lens

EF400mm f/5.6L USM

ISO

400

Focal length

400 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/5.6

Shutter speed

1/2000 sec

Dimensions

3419 pixels x 2727 pixels

Original file size

1.29 MB