Hi Shane, Thanks for your input. Yes, I agree that our bird looks very much like your photo. The Point Lookout bird may well be a first winter Atlantic Brant.
I had assumed that the bird we saw was a juvenile due to the lack of the collar and thought that might explain the size differential. Given that the juveniles of all the races have some degree of darkening on the flanks (likely subject to considerable overlap), I am not really sure how to distinguish among them. Any suggestions? Any thoughts on the bird reported by Michael? Possible juvenile as well? Alan Sent from my iPad > On Jan 2, 2016, at 5:53 PM, Shane Blodgett <shaneblodg...@yahoo.com> wrote: > > Alan- > > This looks more like a first winter Brant to me with the pale feather edgings > on the back and the lack of a neck sock. Here is a photo for comparison: > https://www.flickr.com/photos/puttefin/4125119866 > > Regards, > Shane Blodgett > Brooklyn NY > > Sent from my iPhone > >> On Jan 2, 2016, at 5:34 PM, Alan Wells <awe...@bestweb.net> wrote: >> >> Sorry for the late post, but I just got back to the rest of my photos from >> yesterday’s Jones Beach/Point Lookout trip. Based on the photos, it appears >> that we may have found the possible “Gray-bellied” (or Black?) Brant >> reported by Michael McBrien. It was swimming with typical Atlantic Brant in >> the Jones Inlet on the Point Lookout side of the channel. I have posted a >> photo in my eBird Album on Flickr (at >> https://www.flickr.com/photos/awells48/albums). Sorry for the poor quality, >> but the bird was distance and the sky was very overcast. >> >> What caught our attention first was the much smaller size of this bird when >> compared to the Atlantic Brant with which it was keeping company. The >> difference was so apparent that members of our group jokingly referred to >> this bird as a Cackling Brant! >> >> Alan Wells >> >> -- >> NYSbirds-L List Info: >> Welcome and Basics >> Rules and Information >> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave >> Archives: >> The Mail Archive >> Surfbirds >> BirdingOnThe.Net >> Please submit your observations to eBird! >> -- -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --