ndsutcliffe
SkyBlue136
Taken from Carrapateira, West Algarve coast, yesterday. Sincere apologies for the quality of the pictures, but the birds were some way off shore. There were quite a few Balearic shearwaters around but the bird in the first five photos (all the same bird) looked much whiter underneath (the 6th photo is a Balearic taken soon after which is included for comparison).
Despite the quality of the images, and overexposure, it seems to me that the bird in the first 5 photos lacks the brownish rear underparts, and "armpits" of a Balearic. The rear underbody appears uniformly white, and also the chin appears white. In the fifth picture (the clearest), there are some visible markings on the underwing but not enough to suggest Balearic, or even Yelkouan, so I am leaning towards Manx, or Barolo, which would be less common but not unexpected at this time of year.
Is there enough here to be reasonably conclusive either way? Views appreciated.
Balearic for comparison.
Despite the quality of the images, and overexposure, it seems to me that the bird in the first 5 photos lacks the brownish rear underparts, and "armpits" of a Balearic. The rear underbody appears uniformly white, and also the chin appears white. In the fifth picture (the clearest), there are some visible markings on the underwing but not enough to suggest Balearic, or even Yelkouan, so I am leaning towards Manx, or Barolo, which would be less common but not unexpected at this time of year.
Is there enough here to be reasonably conclusive either way? Views appreciated.
Balearic for comparison.
