[obol] Re: Lane Coast Mystery Seabird
- From: "Wayne Hoffman" <whoffman@xxxxxxxx>
- To: <oropendolas@xxxxxxx>, <obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 17 Aug 2013 20:49:27 -0700
Hi -
I cannot confirm or refute your id of this bird, but I have a fair amount of
experience with Brown Booby and several other sulids, and can say a few
things about how they look in flight. First, they fly faster than a lot of
seabirds, probably noticeably faster than a traveling (not chasing) jaeger.
Second they look very distinctly pointed at both ends. The have longer
necks than jaegers and shearwaters, heads that in flight do not look much
bigger than their necks, and conical bills that tend to be pointed straight
in front of them (except when foraqging). They do not look as long-necked
as cormorants. They tend to look flat-bellied, or thin-bodied.
Hope this helps.
Wayne
From: obol-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:obol-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
Of John Sullivan
Sent: Saturday, August 17, 2013 2:59 PM
To: obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [obol] Lane Coast Mystery Seabird
Hello All,
Barry McKenzie and I birded near Florence yesterday, Friday Aug 16. Our
first stop was at the North Jetty ~8:00AM. We had a clear window for awhile
before the dense fog rolled in. We set up our scopes at the edge of the
channel near the parking area for our first look. I scoped out beyond the
jetties, and one of the first birds I got on was gliding south to north, low
over the water beyond the mouth of the jetties. I first called out
shearwater. Then it flapped and I saw a bright white belly contrasting
sharply with a dark neck and head. It wasn't flying right for a shearwater
and I thought the tail looked big, so I jumped to Pom Jaeger. That wasn't
right either. It was flapping slower than a jaeger and there were no white
flashes in the wings. My next thought was way out there, but I thought it
was right for Brown Booby! That is what it really looked like. I watched it
for 30 seconds or so, and could not give good enough directions for Barry to
get on it before it disappeared behind the dunes. We ran further out on the
jetty to try to catch it again, but it had vanished in the fog to the north.
We drove up to Haceta Head and looked over the rocks at Sealion Cave and
from the lighthouse, but the fog made visibility very limited. I really
don't know what it was. I know Booby is a super long-shot and my description
is lousy, but thought I'd better get this out there in case it's still
hanging around somewhere.
We did see a flock of ~ 14 ELEGANT TERNS feeding off the north jetty, moving
north.
Good Birding,
John Sullivan
Springfield, OR
Other related posts:
