[mou] Jaeger Sp. - St. Louis County - Duluth - Thanks John Kerry!

[M. Thomas Auer]

Thanks to John Kerry, I found a Jaeger species really close to shore at Park Point today! Long story - short: I was going to look around the Bathouse and wooded dunes near the actual park looking for any Warblers, but decided not to when I saw that a huge Kerry-Edwards-Oberstar picnic was being held there, making birding in the scenario, near impossible. So, I continued on to my favorite lake watching spot farther down near the airport (the second platform from the airport), set up my scope and lo and behold was a Jaeger. 

Unfortunately, I've not been able to nail it to any one species. Although, I've elminated the Long-tailed Jaeger, because I got a good look at the shafts of the primaries and saw that there were many more than 2 white primary shafts. The part that is throwing me off is the fact that the belly was fairly heavily and noticably barred, which Advanced Birding indicates that Parasitic Jaegers LACK in summer light adult plumage, but that a darker phase bird might exhibit. I guess the major thing that is limiting here is my poor look at the central tail feathers. What I THOUGHT I saw were slightly longer, straight, pointed central tail feathers, but it wasn't the best look. This field mark would lend itself (in light adult phase) to a Parasitic Jaeger, but not necessarily, because while the nonbreeding light adult Pomarine Jaeger doesn't have those twisted lobe-like central tail feathers, it does have short central tail feathers. So, it probably could be a Pomarine just as much as i
 t could have been a Parasitic. I'm going back out for the rest of the afternoon in hopes of seeing something else that pushes me one way or the other.

If anybody has any thoughts, comments, or questions on my ID, please email, as I'd like some help with this sighting.

Tom Auer
Duluth, MN
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