Jaeger?

[Kris Ito]

Please don't tell me this is a gull! I'm thinking Pomarine but maybe Parasitic?? Observed this morning at Ashbridges Bay during a speedy pop-in visit. Flew surprisingly close to the south/east tip.
- kris

Jaeger i.d. by Kris Ito, on Flickr

[Pat Hodgson]

Juvenile jaeger, yes.  I'm guessing beyond that but proportions look right for parasitic.

[thouc]

Looks like a hint of pointed tail streamers, so I go with Parasitic too.

[Kris Ito]

Thank you Pat and Thomas! I've also just received some feedback from another great birder who emailed this: "I think it’s a Parasitic because the tail tip is distinctly pointed. Juvenile Pomarine has an overall square-ended tail lacking the noticeable pointed extension as on your bird. At most a Pomarine’s central tail feathers are much shorter and rounded - barely visible. The large white patches at the base of the primaries especially noticeable on the left wing should rule out Long-tailed."

Parasitic Jaeger it is! A lifer for me  

-kris

[Rotarran]

That's awesome!  Congrats and a great place to see one!

[Kris Ito]

Thanks Elias! And thank gods I managed to snap that crappy photo or I never would have been able to confirm the species. It would have forever remained a "jaeger spuh" and my life list would be one short.

-kris  

p.s.  There was also a nice group of Pine Siskin and one lovely pure white Kumlien's Gull