ML608647943

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

When I first picked out the bird, I got a brief view as it was passing a Ring-billed Gull at approximately the same distance. My first thought was a jaeger as it was distinctly smaller than the RBGU, but this quickly switched to shearwater once I saw the distinctive flight of this bird. It flew on long, stiff wings, never flapping, towering high above the crests of the waves and then dropping on a sharp angle into the trough only to tower above the next crest. In doing so, the bird was able to cover an impressive amount of distance quite quickly with seemingly no effort. Fortunately, everyone present was able to get on the bird and it steadily moved closer to us. As it got closer we were able to discern colour - dark above and clean white below. Over the next several minutes it moved even closer, giving us all fantastic views through the scope. At this point we were able to note enough field marks to identify the bird as a Manx Shearwater and some photos were taken to back this up. The bird was solid black above and clean white below with a tiny amount of white feathering visible from the top coming from the thighs (like in an Olive-sided Flycatcher). The wings were very long, pointed, and mostly white underneath with thin black edges. The body was completely white underneath including the vent/UTCs. The legs either reached the tip of the tail or projected just beyond it, giving the bird a short-tailed, flying-cross-like appearance. The head was black until just below the eyes and then white underneath with a thin bill. At one point the bird landed on the water not too far from us for a few minutes. It was difficult to get a good look due to the waves, but when it took off, the wingbeats were fast and stiff before it switched back to the distinctive shearwater flight.

Technical information

Dimensions

284 pixels x 505 pixels

Original file size

8.35 KB