jaeger sp. @ McIntosh Lake (Boulder County)

[Bryan Guarente]

As of 6pm, there was a jaeger species on Lake McIntosh in northwest Longmont.  More information later...

 

Bryan Guarente
Instructional Designer
The COMET Program
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
Boulder, CO

[Todd Deininger]

The jeager settled on the NW side of the lake and was still there at 6:56.  It was hard to get any details in the light, but it was larger than the Ring-bill Gulls harassing it.

I will be back in the morning to search for it.

Todd Deininger

Longmont, CO

As of 6pm, there was a jaeger species on Lake McIntosh in northwest Longmont.  

 

Bryan Guarente

[Nick Komar]

Pomarine is the only jaeger with a longer wingspan than Ring-billed Gull.

 

Nick Komar

Fort Collins CO

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[Bryan Guarente]

Here's the scoop on the bird I saw.  Saw a juvenile dark jaeger settled in the middle of Lake McIntosh's deep part.  I made plenty of notes about the bird, since I called 6 people and none of them picked up, I had to go it alone (well with my non-birding wife and noisy 5 year old son).  Bird showed dark wings of dark-brown/black.  The body was more of a grayish/brown with the lightest color being on the back of the head.  The head was rounded and what I thought was large.  This bird had the feeling to me of a small, round-headed Herring Gull. 

I thought the bill was kind of thin, but I am not going to call anything on this bird based on its bill and the ever present heat waves. 

The bird flew up twice while I was there (5:30 til 6).  The bird had white patches in the wings, but I felt they were small and rounded rather than large and more triangular.  The white was confined to the bases of the primaries. 

I never really saw any barring on the wings, but the distance may have precluded that from happening.

The undertail was obviously barred with white.  So obviously that it looked like the tail was bi-colored (dark brown terminal band and white base of the tail feathers).  The undertail was definitely barred white and brown and that was visible from even the great distance I was from it. 

The two central tail feather were longer than the others, but I couldn't tell anything else aside from them being a little longer than the rest.

Not like it makes a difference, but the bird had blackish feet and legs. 

The bird behaviorally was pretty subdued.  Never saw it chase anything and it even got scared of a feisty Western Grebe.  I agree with Todd that this bird was bigger than a Ring-billed Gull (the only gull present on the lake).  The bird looked structurally like a small round-headed Herring Gull in my opinion.  It seemed rather hulking in the chest. 

The last thing that I think is important about the bird was the way it was sitting in the water.  The tail was held very high out of the water (almost like a Bonaparte's Gull).  This made it easier to see the undertail coloration as noted above.  It also made the wings sit higher out of the water than the head.  This may have been due to the fact that the bird always had its neck tucked.  

If I had to make a guess after all this, I am pretty confident (even before Nick's comments) that this bird is a juvenile Pomarine Jaeger, but I am thoroughly prepared to eat my words on this one, since this is my first self-IDed jaeger.  I would say it is somewhere between a dark juvenile and intermediate juvenile based on Sibley's drawings, but I know this is all highly variable.

Expect foggy conditions (especially lake side) with cold temperatures and nearly still winds.  Should be horrible conditions for viewing, but I am betting a lot of you might be out there anyway.  The heat waves should be pretty harsh because of the cold temperatures over the warm lake waters.  If anyone does see the bird in the morning, please let at least me know via email.

I hope to see some of you out there in the morning (if we can find each other through the fog).  Thanks Todd for finding it again before dark.