And then we were back in familiar territory. Today I surveyed south of St. Matthew Island for the second time this trip. This time with similar results. Quite a few Northern Fulmars were around, as usual, as were Kittiwakes and Glaucous and Glaucous-winged Gulls. I also had another Fork-tailed Storm Petrel. I guess all these storms with 75mph winds really blow these little guys around.
In with the gull flocks that occasionally follow the boat was this gull.
Rather than go into a long, detailed description of what I think it is, I'll leave it up to you to decide. Anyone care to go to subspecies with it?
I also had a quick fly-by of three small, dark Auklets. I fired quite a few shots, but only managed some lousy images.
These are probably just juvi Crested Auklets, but how can juvi Whiskered be ruled out? Since we are usually so far from the birds, it is going to be tough to pick out a Whiskered on the way back to Dutch Harbor!
And, since I've been posting really terrible pictures lately, I'll post this Common Green Darner picture I took recently in Texas.
If nothing else, it will at least make me feel a little better about my picture-taking skills...
With a big storm heading our way (again), I hear talk of retreating to the ice for a couple days. Dutch Harbor can't come soon enough. Stay tuned!
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