Hi
Looking in the bird book and mostly based on the bill shape I think this might be a Wedge Tailed Shearwater (dark morph) or a Sooty Shearwater? Any confirmation or contradiction of my opinion is equally welcome.
I feel the exposure compensation for shooting into the light has made the bird appear more greyish than the brown it was to the naked eye. Was a solitary bird on the Parramatta river next to Sydney Olympic Park. Have not seen anything similar to it there before.
Thanks
The Shearwaters are difficult, certainly not my expertise. . At the moment there is large numbers of Short-tailed Shearwaters travelling down the east coast, I saw lots of dead ones on the beach at Ballina yesterday. A view of the underwing would be helpfull, but with the wing tips falling well short of the tail tip on this bird, my best guess would be Wegde-tailed Shearwater?.
Can't confirm ID but for SteveM, in Tassie this year we will be collecting upto 1000 Shearwater bodies (special scientific permit granted by DPIWE) to try and find a cause of death, not sure if other states are doing anything, might be worth checking. Hopefully we will not have that many fatalities. Shearwaters will arrive here in very large numbers soon. The first have already turned up.
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
Thanks for the id SteveM, and good luck with your investigations dwatsonbb
WD, I will only be doing the collection for the scientists (1 of many volunteers) if any wash ashore in our area. Have very specific guidlelines about handling them, and trying to keep them "fresh".
Dale Huonville, Tasmania