Of the many birding hats I wear, leading offshore/pelagic trips from Monterey and Half Moon Bay here in California is one. The South Polar Skua is one
species we encounter with some regularity but they're always flying directly away from the boat at high speed. I've now done 50+ trips over the past five
years, and this was the first time an example presented at both eye level and close range. So stoked to get the dangling feet as that's something we don't
see once they've lifted off!
Closely related to gulls, this barrel-chested bully is a kleptoparasite; it robs other species of prey when it doesn't feel like doing its own fishing or scavenging.
Lighting is always an issue since it take 3-4 hours to reach to deep water these guys prefer. If the sun isn't directly overhead by that point, then we're working
with high overhead cloud as was the case here. So, you don't really get a choice of what lighting to use as you on land.
This was literally the first target on which I trained my just-purchased R5. Given zero practice, I'm happy with the result.
Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO II + 1.4x III on EOS R5
1/4000 at f/5.6, ISO 800
Processed in LR CC with Topaz NR