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[offshorebirder]

Here are a few photos from last week - I was on a "Pelagic Safari" - 5 days in the Gulf Stream off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.  This time, I was one of the safari guides, rather than a customer.  I still got some opportunities for photography though.

 

I will be posting a trip report soon, but here are a few shots of pelagic birds.

 

This one is one of my favorite birds - sadly endangered.  Black-capped Petrel (Pterodroma hasitata).   It is estimated only 2,500 breeding pairs are left.

 

 

 

This one is an Audubon's Shearwater - Puffinus lherminieri).   They are charming small shearwaters that like foraging in Sargassum weed concentrations for small fish, crabs, etc.

 

 

 

This is a great Shearwater (Puffinus gravis).   They breed on islands in the far South Atlantic (like Gough, Inaccessible Island, and Tristan De Cunha)  and summer in the North Atlantic, particularly the Bay of Fundy.

 

[Peter Connan]

Three absolutely top-class shots @offshorebirder!

[offshorebirder]

Just one more pelagic photo as I am finishing processing images from last week's trip.

 

This is a Wilson's Storm Petrel (Oceanites oceanicus) - they nest in Antarctica, and are the smallest warm-blooded creature that breeds there.   They live the rest of their lives at sea, spending the nonbreeding season in the northern hemisphere.   They are *much* less common in the Pacific than the Atlantic. 

 

[pomkiwi]

Horned Puffin

 

I am currently on my way home from a 9 day trip to the Kenai Peninsular and Lake Clark NP in Alaska. There will be a trip report and lots of photos of bears. I did spend one fun afternoon photographing puffins and this is one of the early results. More to come I'm afraid...

 

 

Nikon D500, 80-400mm lens@ 400mm, f/5.6. 1/4000 sec, ISO 200. A little post-processing in Lightroom to bring up the shadows and adjust the exposure.

[offshorebirder]

11 hours ago, pomkiwi said:

There will be a trip report and lots of photos of bears.

 

Oh goody!

[Dave Williams]

Interesting to see a Horned Puffin., here's an Atlantic Puffin for comparison.

Atlantic Puffin  Fratercula arctica by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[Game Warden]

Wow to the 2 puffin photos above, @pomkiwi and @Dave Williams!

 

Matt

 

[TonyQ]

Two excellent photos of Puffins - I didn't know there was more than one sort!

[pomkiwi]

@TonyQ I can offer another type:

 

Tufted Puffin taken on the same trip as the horned puffin (and sharing the same nesting site).

 

Only the second photo is (just) in flight but the first shows off the yellow tufts rather better!

 

 

[Dave Williams]

@pomkiwiThat's the full set. Nice one!

 

I'm not sure which I find the most attractive, it's a toss up between Atlantic and Tufted with the former maybe shading it? 

Edited July 19, 2018 by Dave Williams

[offshorebirder]

It's the time of year in their narrow range in the southeastern USA when Swallow-tailed Kites (and Mississippi Kites) are aggregating to fatten up before migration.   Adults and newly-fledged young gather in feeding flocks over hayfields and pastures near swamps and blackwater rivers.   

 

Yesterday I made a pilgrimage to one of the more reliable areas for this spectacle, near Allendale, South Carolina.  Things are running a bit behind this year (perhaps from the super cold winter last year or several late cold snaps this spring).  But I did find a little action where about 40 Kites were feeding - mainly on June Bugs (Green Scarab Beetles), and a bit on Dragonflies and Grasshoppers.   In the first photo you can see the Swallow-tailed Kite grasping the June Bug in its talons.  I threw in a wide angle view of part of the flock when it was farther away. 

 

Photos cannot convey the dashing, exuberant flight of these marvelous creatures!   They are a challenge to photograph as they twist and turn and dive, but very rewarding when things come together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 29, 2018 by offshorebirder

[Kitsafari]

@offshorebirder awesome captures of the kite 

[offshorebirder]

Thanks @Kitsafari. 

 

Here are just a few more photos.    The first 2 are of a juvenile Swallow-tailed Kite trying to catch a Junebug (Scarab Beetle) and missing.  Last one is an adult with sunlight illuminating its underparts.

 

 

 

[Peter Connan]

Wonderful shots Nathan!

 

[pomkiwi]

Black Oystercatcher

 

 A pair of black oystercatchers provided some distraction from lots of puffins!

 

Lark Clark NP, Alaska. Nikon D500, 80-400mm@330mm, f/5.6, 1/3200sec, ISO200

[Peter Connan]

Wattled Lapwing

 

[Peter Connan]

Red-eyed Dove:

 

[offshorebirder]

Two very nice shots @Peter Connan - especially the second one!

[offshorebirder]

Mississippi Kite - a bit more distant and harshly lit than I would like.  But that's bird photography.

 

 

Edited August 11, 2018 by offshorebirder

[Peter Connan]

Thanks @offshorebirder

[pomkiwi]

Another Puffin

 

Horned puffin on final approach.

 

 

Nikon D500, 80-400mm lens@290mm, f/5.6, 1/2500sec, ISO 200.

[Peter Connan]

beautiful!

[Peter Connan]

Especially for @michael-ibk

 

It was a bit far away, so a very big crop...

 

[michael-ibk]

Thanks @Peter Connan, much appreciated. Very nice shot! 

[Peter Connan]

Thank you @michael-ibk

 

This one was blinking difficult, and I wish I had dialled up the shutter speed a bit more!

 

They really are fast, and the sound it makes when extending the tail feathers is really something.

 

 

 

African Snipe, Marievale, last weekend with @Treepol

 

Nikon D500 + 500mm f4, 1/2500th, f4, ISO160-180

Edited August 24, 2018 by Peter Connan