Crested Auklet in flight on black

Here’s another Crested Auklet in flight a la Sony 200-600mm lens and Alpha 1 camera. This combo is such a bomb that I am seriously considering leaving my prime 600/4 at home next year. Getting tired of Crested Auklet pics?

Red-faced Cormorant in flight with nesting material

Also known as Red-faced or Violet Shags, this Red-faced Cormorant brings home some nesting material to its nest on the cliffs of Saint Paul Island, Alaska.

Deriving their name from the Latin term Corvus marines (“sea raven”), cormorants are highly adapted for underwater hunting. Their bodies are streamlined and somewhat flattened beneath, the neck is long and subtle, the wings broad, long and blunt, and the legs powerful and set far back. Using their lean bodies, they thrust through the water and along the seabed to flush out prey.

Pribilofs Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch In Flight

Despite being about 15 % larger than the other two distinct and recognizable breeding populations of this species, it was still rather difficult to get a decent in flight photograph while sitting atop the wind-blown cliffs of Saint Paul Island in the rain with a super-telephoto lens. The wind was howling and the Finch would occasionally stall as it looked for insects on the cliff directly below me.

Crested Auklet in flight

Here’s a Crested Auklet in-flight image from Saint Paul Island, AK. We spent an incredible day perched at the top of the seabird cliffs on an incredibly windy day. The seabird activity was over-the-top. All of the stars were out and preforming for us: Crested, Parakeet and Least Auklets, Horned and Tufted Puffins, Red-faced Cormorants, Northern Fulmars, Black-legged and Red-legged Kittiwakes. It was a spectacular day!

If you missed them, be sure to see these related posts:

Crested Auklet sends fragrant signals

2020 Alaska Seabird Die-offs