ML627824165

Age and sex

Unknown age, Unknown sex - 1

Kommentarer

Leach's Storm Petrel on Pt. Reyes CBC, Abbotts Lagoon coming back around. Iso error caused overexposure but allows for clarity of underparts. Photo cropped.

Observasjonsdetaljer

First observed from a distance through the scope, I noted a larger dark brown storm-petrel with a grayish carpal bar and a white rump. The closer bird was both flying and running on the surface of the water. Views revealed that the white rump on one of the birds was slightly divided by a central stripe. The white extended slightly below the midline, making it visible on the sides of the undertail coverts. On the closest bird, the tail appeared worn. The primaries were also worn, and the right wing was slightly disheveled, with one feather overlapping incorrectly, sticking out over the others. A few key features helped distinguish it from other species: the feet did not protrude beyond the tail, the white was limited below the tail, and the behavior—running and skimming the water’s surface—was consistent with Leach’s Storm-Petrel. One of the birds, which appeared to be in better shape, was not seen after the initial views. However, the closer bird was displaying a ragged tail as well as the disheveled wings. I observed it having difficulty moving out of the lagoon. It was flying and running toward the lagoon mouth, but as it reached the berm, it struggled against the wind. When it attempted to fly across the sand, it was blown back toward the north, where the Sanderlings and Snowy Plovers usually roost. Twice, it tried to patter along the beach, nearly landing, but it was unable to settle or make any progress getting sandblasted and apparently giving up or getting pushed into the air by a gust of wind. Eventually, it was blown back into the lagoon and had to start over again. This sequence allowed for some fairly good photos to be taken, which I will add here.

Teknisk informasjon

Model

NIKON D500

ISO

4000

Focal length

500 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/6.3

Shutter speed

1/5000 sec

Dimensions

1280 pixels x 854 pixels

Original file size

1002.5 KB