Algarve Seawatching (1 Viewer)

[ndsutcliffe]

Taken this morning at Pontal da Carrapateira. Took this single photo of an apparently uniformly dark shearwater - so thinking Sooty Shearwater. There were lots of Cory's Shearwaters and a few Balearic - all of which showed a much paler back with markings, and taken in the same light as this one. Unfortunately only managed to catch one before losing it (very windy day). Is there enough here to be sure of Sooty Shearwater?

 

[Valéry Schollaert]

Before reading your comment, I thought "Sooty S." ; dark bill excludes Cory's / Scopoli's for sure. I think was can exclude Balearic by shape here.

 

[Stonefaction]

Don't know what it is, but there appears to be a bit of a paler belly visible just behind the wings.

 

[Val35]

Looks like Cory's/Scopoli's to me but in bad light conditions...

 

[ndsutcliffe]

Looks like Cory's/Scopoli's to me but in bad light conditions...

Yes I wondered that - but as a comparator this is a Cory's taken 3 minutes beforehand in the same place.

 

[THE_FERN]

Bit in the fence but note the lighting in these 2 images is very different (not unexpected on sea watch)

 

[ndsutcliffe]

Bit in the fence but note the lighting in these 2 images is very different (not unexpected on sea watch)

I think we'll never know - I share the scepticism, however - I fired off over 500 photos (the wonders of digital photography), and this is literally the only one that has a dark bird on it. It's either a Sooty Shearwater, or a camera aberration..........

 

[Val35]

Yes I wondered that - but as a comparator this is a Cory's taken 3 minutes beforehand in the same place.

View attachment 1599611

Agree...but lighting conditions at sea can be deceiving...

 

[ndsutcliffe]

Agree...but lighting conditions at sea can be deceiving...

So as per previous comment, I do not believe this is just lighting. It was a clear day, cloudless sky, sun behind me, clear line of sightr, and out of 568 photos taken, none were 'blacked out' in the way this would have to be. Not even close.

However I remain sceptical. But I was hoping someone may help me with issues such as wing shape, tail etc that might indicate what this bird is. So if we put aside lighting conditions, is there anything that differentiates Sooty v Cory's v Balearic or anything else?

 

[Valéry Schollaert]

So as per previous comment, I do not believe this is just lighting. It was a clear day, cloudless sky, sun behind me, clear line of sightr, and out of 568 photos taken, none were 'blacked out' in the way this would have to be. Not even close.

However I remain sceptical. But I was hoping someone may help me with issues such as wing shape, tail etc that might indicate what this bird is. So if we put aside lighting conditions, is there anything that differentiates Sooty v Cory's v Balearic or anything else?

I replied already. Wings are much too long for a Balearic. It is either a Calonectris or a Ardenna, on shape. Dark bill exclude Calonectris. You are the one that took the pics. Can the the bill looks dark because of the lighting condition but it is actually pale ? You are the one who know best. Don't you have a RAW photo to check better ? Can we see the pale bill of some Cory's Shearwater on other photos you took in similar conditions ?

 

[ndsutcliffe]

I replied already. Wings are much too long for a Balearic. It is either a Calonectris or a Ardenna, on shape. Dark bill exclude Calonectris. You are the one that took the pics. Can the the bill looks dark because of the lighting condition but it is actually pale ? You are the one who know best. Don't you have a RAW photo to check better ? Can we see the pale bill of some Cory's Shearwater on other photos you took in similar conditions ?

The photo posted is original, and only cropped, not edited in any way. There were actually two birds, my impression at the time was that they looked darker (but then cameras only take what we see, so thats not surprising). I only managed to get one shot and then lost them, it was very windy and taken at some distance. I've attached couple of image that seem similar (also cropped, and taken 8 minutes beforehand). However these are clearer images than the original photo, so I guess we should be cautious about comparisons.