ML66104111

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

At 11:50, we were about 700 meters west of Race Point beach parking lot, walking east on our way back to the car when we heard a lot of terns suddenly calling behind us. An adult-type SP Skua was flying low (less than 10 meters) above the beach a few meters from us! The bird continued eastward above the beach, sometimes making a few circles. Observation lasted ~7 minutes. Rationale for ID: - Skua by barrel-shaped body, broad proximal half of wing, thick bill, short broad tail, conspicuous solid white base to primaries. - SP Skua by overall cold dark brown plumage, lack of any streaking on back/scapulars/upperwing coverts/underparts (both old and new feathers), blackish underwing coverts. All new generation feathers to upperparts uniform dark brown. All photos (including the ones attached herein) can be found here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/fgrenon/albums/72157687549937906

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS 7D Mark II

Lens

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

ISO

160

Focal length

400 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/5.6

Shutter speed

1/2000 sec

Dimensions

2216 pixels x 1477 pixels

Original file size

907.42 KB