ML69296551

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

Originally identified as Hawaiian Petrel, likely a Buller's Shearwater. A very poor view and very few people were able to get on the bird. Spotted at the 10 o'clock position and it flew away towards 11 o'clock. Sun glare present. I saw the bird first come up and show white belly, and thought Buller's. But then it came up again and the shape and movement was wrong, with no flapping, and saw it snap up as it roller coastered away. The body was very slim, long. I could see dark on sides of head, but not a strongly capped look. I did not get the underwing pattern other than it had some white. The bird looked smaller and lighter than adjacent Pink-foots, and flew and looked slimmer and narrower winged than Buller's which had been seen throughout the day. We looked for some time in the area, but could not re-sight. It was a frustrating situation all around. I saw it do two or so flips up before I ran to wheelhouse and get the word out on the PA. I think that Rob Furrow was able to follow it for the longest time. His comment to me the day after was that it had a different flight style from the Bullers and Pink-foots that he looked at later on in the day. With a more accentuated turn at the top of the arc, while the shearwaters did this more fluidly. Bob Wallace (Florida) was able to get a few distant photos, I am unsure if the one going away shows enough of the shorter inner wing vs longer outer wing of Pterodroma. The side view photo shows a wide secondary bulge, but I think this is the angle.

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS 7D

Lens

Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS

ISO

400

Focal length

400 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/6.3

Shutter speed

1/4000 sec

Dimensions

905 pixels x 601 pixels

Original file size

338.08 KB