ML609267291

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

One intermediate juvenile appeared east of the beach near the Bayshore point lighthouse and headed northwest, for a while flying well offshore generally westward, but then turning north and disappearing. Although not seen closely, and not in direct comparison to any other bird, it did not strike me as a Pomarine as the flight style did not appear powerful enough nor the bird bulky enough. The flight style was fairly lazy overall; that said, it was flying into the wind and not in pursuit of anything. I did not think it was the same as the darker bird seen earlier on the beach by B. Arnold and Arnold B., either, based on what could be seen of the underparts and also my impression of the extent of white on the underside primary bases. It was not seen well enough to evaluate the central tail feathers. Initially was leaning toward Long-tailed in the field but after the fact and reviewing photos I would lean more toward Parasitic, especially by the hint of warmer brown tones which I could somewhat discern in the field, but that was only a faint impression. Would be fine with moving it to jaeger sp. too. All photos below are upsampled 100% from the original crops. EDIT 9/29: After further study and discussion, I think this is safe to move from the PAJA/LTJA slash to Long-tailed Jaeger. Points in favor of Long-tailed evident in the photos are: 1) body shape, with the wings set forward creating a small-headed, front-heavy, and attenuated appearance; 2) narrow-based wings; 3) the very limited or absence of white wing flashes in most aspects, which I commented on repeatedly in the field to others; and 4) cold-toned appearance, especially as seen in the third photo of the upperparts. It still does not look to me like either of the two birds found earlier by Bruce Arnold and Arnold Buehler. As I stated in my original notes my impression in the field was Long-tailed, which I even said aloud a number of times while watching the bird. Only later did I talk myself into a conservative ID of the slash. The impression I sometimes had of warmer tones, as stated, was only a faint impression, and isn't really supported by the photos. In the end there really isn't much in the photos to bring Parasitic into serious consideration.

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS-1D X Mark II

Lens

EF600mm f/4L IS II USM

ISO

400

Focal length

600 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/4.0

Shutter speed

1/1250 sec

Dimensions

1200 pixels x 800 pixels

Original file size

322.27 KB