Re: [MDOsprey] Possible Parasitic Jaeger at PLSP
Greg Miller (hawk-owl@yahoo.com)
Sat, 2 Oct 1999 13:58:44 -0700 (PDT)
Howdy All,
This was the third jaeger seen in St Marys this fall.
I was very surprised this morning to see this dark,
subadult jaeger. No hurricanes. No storms. No big
winds. There were, however, huge numbers of gulls and
terns in the Bay this morning (prob several thousand
too far out to ID from land).
I will clarify that a Long-tailed would be wishful at
best. I just can't rule it out with absolute
certainty. Hence the jaeger sp. designation.
Here are my notes: It was a very dark individual,
roughly the same size or a little larger than a
Laughing Gull, showing a minor amount of paleness on
the lower belly. The white in the primaries was
present, but indistinct in normal flight, but was
easily seen when it started bullying terns. The wings
seemed narrow and extremely pointed. It's flight was
not as deep [I thought] as a Pomarine either. It also
lacked the barrel-chested, heavy-bodied appearance of
a Pomarine (that every now then makes your heart skip
a beat and you think "skua" before you pop back to
reality). No tail feather protusions were evident.
The bird was only viewed with the aid of binoculars.
The careful eyes of George Jett also observed this
bird. I was quick to call it Parasitic, but it was
George's questioning attitude that made me rethink.
So, for the record, jaeger sp.
PLSP was very slow this morning (except for
mosquitoes). A late Acadian Flycatcher made an
appearance at the picnic area. Only one Magnolia and
one Blackpoll. I saw a Merlin over the point at
7:15am and a Cooper's Hawk a little later. Several
Sharpies passed as we birded. A singal Marsh Wren was
present at the pond near the point.
Back to work (aargh),
-Greg Miller
Hollywood, MD
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