What's unusual about this r-b tropicbird is that it was at Matinicus Rock in the Gulf of Maine, July 12, 2008! I was on a pelagic birding trip with Maine Audubon, seeing mostly arctic terns, razorbills, Atlantic puffins, black guillemots, common murres. The local biologist told us the tropicbird hadn't been seen for over a week, when all of a sudden the bird flew right over the bow of the boat where I was waiting (handheld) with my Canon 1D Mk III, 500 mm IS with 1.4x TC. A little Better Beamer flash fill would have been nice, but just not possible on this crowded boat. But ... what a thrill!
What a great find Keith. You did well to grab this image which is pretty sharp for hand-held 700 mm combo! I see a little bit of posterisation in the sky. I have seen this in jpeg images which I have opened and edited several times.
You may have heard that there was a Red-billed Tropicbird on the Maine coast in 2007 as well. It has to be the same bird. Tropicbirds are one of the most pelagic of all seabirds and routinely fly 100s or 1000s of km to feed.
Hi Keith,
That's one tough bird to get into the entire frame. Ideally you would have had a bit better angle toward you so that the tail wasn't quite as long yet still show it's character. As is, I would go with Fabs recommendation and explore a crop from behind and then either top or bottom a bit.
Thanks, Roman. Your comment about a better angle is a very helpful critique. I had another one with a better angle, but it was fuzzy; see attached image. If you had seen me trying to get a decent flight shot from a rolling deck of that warp-speed bird, you would have had a good laugh. That any of these were (a) in the frame, and (b) sharp - was a miracle!
Hi Keith,
I definitely know the feeling of a rolling boat. Man if that angle was sharp it would have been killer! The misses are what drive me as a photographer.........I hope you get another chance with this bird as it is truly spetacular!
red-billed tropicbird
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