Posted by Toe on January 01, 1970 at 00:00:00
I would not even attempt to ID a distant jaeger to species. Pomarine and Parasitic are very close in size and shape, and this time of year 99% of the jaegers we see flying south are Pomarines. I expect there are Parasitic in the mix as well, and even a late Long-tailed, but I would rather see it up close before making the call. We had one on the recent pelagic that was flying low to the water about 150 yards out, and I put it down as jaeger sp. Could have been a parasitic, but they deserve more caution that most people realize. Believe it or not, jaegers are the empids of pelagics! I once had a dark-morph adult Parasitic make a pass at the terns at Crandon, coming to within 20 feet of me! Would I have had a camera then.