Gaily Jackson (no relation!) was at Gualala Point Regional Park last week at dusk. She saw what she thought was an Osprey with a fish. But when she trained her camera on the bird, instead of a fish, she saw a very long tail. She was seeing a seabird that you usually have to take a pelagic trip to see - a Parasitic Jaeger.

Dave Barry took a look at Gaily's photos. He wrote, “With the necklace, long pointed tail feathers, it sure looks real good for a breeding plumage, light morph, Parasitic Jaeger.”

Tim Bray agreed with the ID. He wrote, “They sometimes come in close to shore in pursuit of Terns, either Caspian or Elegant. I saw one fly up the Garcia River once when there were a number of Caspian Terns resting there. South winds also seem to sometimes bring pelagic birds in close. Great photos, classic light-morph Parasitic Jaeger. It’s always exciting to see pelagics from shore!”

This Jaeger is called parasitic because it steals fish from other birds, particularly Terns. Tim wrote further, “They follow the Terns and watch them, and when one catches a fish, the Jaeger will harass the Tern until it drops the fish, which the Jaeger then catches in midair and eats. The Jaegers don't actually harm the Terns, just make them work twice as hard for food.”

Fascinating! Thanks to Gaily for allowing me to share her photos with you here. To see more of Gaily's nature photography, here is her website: http://gailyimages.com/

Sunny, breezy, with clouds zipping by on the Mendonoma Coast today.

Spring doesn't know...