Ashy Storm-Petrel, Oceanodroma homochroa


Ashy Storm-Petrel
A slick of fish oil poured on the waters off San Francisco on a September 2012 pelagic got Storm-Petrels
in closer than I'd seen them before, and allowed the photos above and below -- still not what I'd like,
but better than I'd had before. These are Ashy Storm-Petrels which are one of the two most common
Storm-Petrel species off the central California coast, the others being the rather similar-looking Black
Storm-Petrel, which I still am waiting to photograph adequately.


Ashy Storm-Petrel


Ashy Storm-Petrels
This trip in August 2011 had pretty calm seas, which makes it a little bit easier to see and photograph Storm-Petrels. As a result, I was able to get this distant shot of a flock of Ashies flying by.