Dorian Anderson
Well-known member
Unless you're a hardcore birder, you won't know the story about this specific bird. Steller's Sea-Eagle (SSEA) is restricted to the Eastern Palearctic, specifically
the Kamchatka Peninsula, the Sea of Okhotsk, and Sea of Japan. The massive bird occasionally wanders to the Aleutians, but records outside of Alaska are
effectively nonexistent. Given that primer, you can imagine the surprise when one was seen in Texas in March of 2021. Observed by a single birder on one
afternoon, it subsequently vanished despite the dozens of birders who descended on the area for the ensuing days. As unlikely as the sighting was, the general
feeling was that it represented a wild bird since no one could find a report of an escaped example.
Fast forward to July of 2021, when the bird finally resurfaced in New Brunswick, Canada! It was spotted on the Gaspé Peninsula in Quebec a week later, and, in
the ensuing months, bounced around Nova Scotia, Massachusetts, Maine, and New Brunswick before setting into Trinity Bay in Newfoundland during the summer
of 2022. It spent Feb of 2023 in Maine but subsequently disappeared - until it resurfaced in Trinity in Newfoundland in June. So, given that amazing history,
you can imagine that participant on my recent photo tour were stoked to retool our itinerary to search for the story-book bird. We booked two zodiac trips from
Trinity and connected with the bird on both. It was high on the cliffs on the first, but occupied the beach on the second. The bird took off as we approached, and
I was able to grab thisframe from the bouncing/bobbing boat before the bird flew around a rocky peninsula and out of view. It was a truly heart-stropping
experience and represents arguably the best bird on my ABA list, now at over 800 species.
Canon 600mm f/4 IS II + 1.4x III on EOS R5
1/3200 at f/5.6, ISO 1600
Processed in LR Classic. This represents a significant crop, but this was a truly once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
the Kamchatka Peninsula, the Sea of Okhotsk, and Sea of Japan. The massive bird occasionally wanders to the Aleutians, but records outside of Alaska are
effectively nonexistent. Given that primer, you can imagine the surprise when one was seen in Texas in March of 2021. Observed by a single birder on one
afternoon, it subsequently vanished despite the dozens of birders who descended on the area for the ensuing days. As unlikely as the sighting was, the general
feeling was that it represented a wild bird since no one could find a report of an escaped example.
Fast forward to July of 2021, when the bird finally resurfaced in New Brunswick, Canada! It was spotted on the Gaspé Peninsula in Quebec a week later, and, in
the ensuing months, bounced around Nova Scotia, Massachusetts, Maine, and New Brunswick before setting into Trinity Bay in Newfoundland during the summer
of 2022. It spent Feb of 2023 in Maine but subsequently disappeared - until it resurfaced in Trinity in Newfoundland in June. So, given that amazing history,
you can imagine that participant on my recent photo tour were stoked to retool our itinerary to search for the story-book bird. We booked two zodiac trips from
Trinity and connected with the bird on both. It was high on the cliffs on the first, but occupied the beach on the second. The bird took off as we approached, and
I was able to grab thisframe from the bouncing/bobbing boat before the bird flew around a rocky peninsula and out of view. It was a truly heart-stropping
experience and represents arguably the best bird on my ABA list, now at over 800 species.
Canon 600mm f/4 IS II + 1.4x III on EOS R5
1/3200 at f/5.6, ISO 1600
Processed in LR Classic. This represents a significant crop, but this was a truly once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
- Canon EOS R5
- EF600mm f/4L IS II USM +1.4x III
- ƒ/5.6
- 840mm
- 1/3200s
- ISO 1600
- dorian anderson
- Sat, 01 July 2023 7:14 AM
- dorian anderson
- Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 12.3 (Macintosh)
