ML621544203

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

None of the storm petrels present were in active moult. Slightly bigger than Wilson, also present ( the birds were not bigger or wide armed as Leach’s- what was expected if they were Grant’s or Monteiro’s). In the underwing were notorious (specially with sun), in the great coverts - going horizontally trough all the underwing - a yellow brownish/ grayish contrasting with the general brown chocolate colour of all the coverts and flight feathers . Since the second storm petrel observed we strongly suspected of Madeiran Storm Petrel, asking all at the boat to make as most photos as possible. We could determine by photos, that we had at least 10 different individuals present at 2 chum spots (1 + 9). "The only thing I can say is a summer breeders castro" Hadoram Shirihai “It's almost certain that this is a summer breeder. Winter breeder adults would probably still be in primary moult. Juveniles should look fresher than the ones in the best images I viewed. It is highly unlikely to be Monteiro's from Azores as we now know that during the breeding season they forage north to the mid-Atlantic Ridge, none deviating any distance eastwards. Also, among other things, they tend to have a fairly deep tail fork for a castro and a strong ulnar bar on the upperwing. Likewise, Cape Verde Storm-petrel is highly unlikely to reach Portuguese waters with limited knowledge indicating they are relatively sedentary while breeding and head west post breeding. That taxon too has a strong ulnar bar. There are other things I could mention if I had more time. So, your birds in all probability are Madeiran Storm-petrels.“ Bob Flood

Technical information

Model

ILCE-7M3

Lens

FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS

ISO

1250

Focal length

411 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/7.1

Shutter speed

1/3200 sec

Dimensions

1451 pixels x 927 pixels

Original file size

657.34 KB