hpippen

Thanks to Mr. Tai for arrange the boat trip and all the experts who found this bird.
Any chance of Wedge-tailed? :?

South-West Water of Lamma Island
01/05/2008

yyattung

Hi Pippen (and also others in the boat yesterday),

It is a very interesting photo. Tail looks long. What was the distance to the bird?

I also post a photo of Short-tailed Shearwater here for comparison. My bird was very closed to the boat, less than 100m. Feet are visible beyond the tail.

Tung

lmichael

I think that this bird is structurally the same as Tung's photo. The latter clearly shows that the legs project beyond the tail but I think that in Pippen's photo of a very distant bird (he did well to get such a good photo!) the detail is lost and what looks like the tail tip is actually the feet.  There is a slight downward projection on Pippen's photo which is presumably the tarsal joint (again obvious in Tung's photo) and I think that the distance from this point to the tip of what I think are the feet in Pippen's photo are the same as in Tung's.

Leaving the feet for a moment, head shape, bill length, wing length and wing length/width ratio are the same in both.

I hope we get one on Sunday - I need it for HK!

Mike

hpippen

Thanks Mike & Tung

This is the full frame view under 700mm zoom... :wink:  I guess the distance is about 500m away