This seabird flew quite fast past my seawatching station on Po Toi yesterday morning at about 10am.
I believe it's a Swinhoe's Storm-petrel.
It was coming from the north east and heading towards the south west, the opposite of all other seabirds in spring. Author: brendank Time: 31/05/2012 16:36
Congratulations, on a great find!!! I completely agree the photos do look like a Storm-petrel. In the last photo I think you can even see the light carpal bar.
There is a video of a Swinhoe's Storm-petrel on youtube and it might be worth comparing the flight style with your bird
[ Last edited by brendank at 31/05/2012 16:39 ] Author: wgeoff Time: 31/05/2012 18:37
Thanks Brendan
To be honest, it looked nothing like the bird in your video. Your bird is feeding - mine was trying to fly as fast as possible, in fact it was shearing over the waves like a shearwater.
I only saw it very briefly through binoculars, the rest of the time I was trying to get good photos because I realised immediately it was something unusual. Through binoculars it looked like a small all-dark shearwater or petrel. Afterwards, I could only look at the photos in the camera viewfinder as I don't have a computer on Po Toi at present, and what I could see was too small to really identify it. I realised the shape was wrong for a shearwater or Bulwer's Petrel and I thought some of the photos looked like those of the Brown Noddy in 2006. It was only when I got home today I could really see the photos and see what the bird was. Author: tgraham Time: 31/05/2012 20:53
Geoff
The link below is to some photos from Dubai of the first Swinhoes for the country found last year.
Looks excellent for Swinhoe's - just like the one some of us saw on 30 Aug 2000, but could never quite get close enough to clinch the id.
Mike Turnbull Author: wgeoff Time: 1/06/2012 05:58
Thanks Graham and Mike
You always think of Storm-petrels as being very small, but this is based on the European Storm-petrel. One of Graham's photos shows that Swinhoe's is not much smaller than a Bridled Tern and my initial impression of this bird was a small shearwater rather than a storm-petrel.
Mike, I've always thought of seeing Swinhoe's in late August following your record, but Clive Viney had two near Round Island on 28 May 1990 (see 1990 HKBR).
I'm lucky that modern cameras and lenses are so good - this bird was a long way away yet the photos still show good detail. The EXIF info on the photos show exactly 22 seconds between first and last photos, so I didn't have much time to think about it. This is the way with most seabirds seen from Po Toi.
[ Last edited by wgeoff at 1/06/2012 06:11 ] Author: kmike Time: 1/06/2012 11:10
A fabulous record Geoff!
Are there potential confusion species to be ruled out?( Matsudaira's. Tristram's, dark-rumped Leaches? )
Cheers
Mike Author: wgeoff Time: 1/06/2012 12:09
Thanks Mike
Whilst other dark-rumped storm-petrels are similar, they are fantastically unlikely based on known range, compared to Swinhoe's which nests just up the coast, and given the date of this bird which is spot on for a migrant returning to it's nesting grounds.
There are also some plumage differences which may be relevant. However, I wouldn't wish to be seen to be doing the work of the Records Committee. Author: lmichael Time: 1/06/2012 16:20
Congratulations Geoff
Like others my initial thoughts are that it looks spot-on for Swinhoe's Storm Petrel. Long overdue to get a well-documented record of this species.
Cheers
Mike Leven Author: wgeoff Time: 1/06/2012 17:19
Thanks Mike
It seems we have at least one vote on the Records Committee.
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