The Ghost Bird

[Linda Dulak]

This is an isabelline Southern Giant Petrel photographed from the stern of a ship just south of Cape Horn, S.A. The normal giant petrel is a grayish bird but occasionally one occurs with mainly white feathers and some scattered tan ones. It's known as the ghost bird. It is quite rare and rarer still to see one following a ship. This bird accompanied us for most of the day. Photography was difficult with a bobbing and weaving bird on the wing and a bouncing ship along with overcast skies.

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 28-300 @ 300, f7.1, 1/3200, ISO 640, manual exposure.
Cropped about 50%, levels, inc. saturation, smart sharpen

Comments welcome

Linda

[gail bisson]

Lovely soft pastel feel to this image. Tack sharp so well done considering the motion of the ocean! I like the comp as well.I have never seen an image of this bird so thank you for sharing! Very cool beak,
Gail

[Daniel Cadieux]

It's different to see a white petrel! Nice eye, and good job on the whites against the pale sky - I especially like the brighter face and neck. I'd prefer a bit more room at right but still OK as is.

[Dumay de Boulle]

Great pose and wing position, like the flight angle

[Christopher Ciccone]

A beautiful photo, striking a nice balance between the pale sky and light bird. The eye contact and bill detail is what really makes this shot for me.

[Linda Dulak]

Thanks everyone. I was excited to get a nice shot of this one, considering it's rarity. Glad you liked it too.

I have to thank John Chardine for the ID as well as the lessons on manual exposure for BIF. It worked!

Linda

[Randy Stout]

Linda:

Easy to see why they call it the 'ghost bird'. Nicely presented, like the angle in frame and the interesting bill.

It almost looks like he has only one leg/foot, but I suspect they tuck them in very carefully for maximum aerodynamic efficiency.

Cheers

Randy

[Linda Dulak]

Randy: Thanks for the comments.

The bill is complex because they have salt glands to get rid of the excess salt from the sea water and the various prey that they eat. They have no access to fresh water so must excrete the excess salt.
This tube on the top of their bill is the area where they excrete the salt and most images will have a drop of liquid on the tip of their bill which is the saline solution.

As for the foot, I believe you are right that the other one is carefully tucked in. There were several times I saw them pull their feet out and paddle away in the air. Then they would tuck them in again. Not sure what was happening but it was interesting to see.

Linda