Jaeger along St Kilda esplanade.

I was in Melbourne over easter and was taken on an impromptu stroll along St Kilda esplanade. For about 10 minutes I watched a pair of Jaegers there, chasing Silver Gulls. The behaviour, appearance (grey-brown above and mostly whitish below with pale wing patches), overall size & shape (close to Silver Gulls but faster flying), could only be that. I suspect they would be a pair of Arctic Jaegers, based on a loose assumption of them being the most common and that I thought they were slim bodied (although I couldn’t rule out another Jaeger species). I didn’t have binoculars and was about 50 to 300 metres from the birds. The chase extended to the land edge. I have only seen Jaegers over ocean before, I wonder how regular it is that they are there doing that. It is likely more a question about me than the birds as I would not be there more than once or twice a decade.

Philip ===============================

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