If you've never been to the North Pacific Coast you almost certainly have never seen a Pigeon Guillemot in the wild. These striking seabirds are found only along the coast of the North Pacific, including along the entire and very lengthy Pacific shoreline of British Columbia. These almost uniformly dark brown birds do have a bright white patch on their wings that almost glows against the surrounding brown feathers, and the extreme back end of the birds (their feet!) are an almost neon red-orange colour. Similarly, if they open their beaks you'll see that the lining of the mouth is also that same neon red-orange. One of my goals in 2026 is to get a flight shot of Pigeon Guillemot in flight with its mouth agape (showing its red-orange feet and red-orange mouth lining in one shot)! You better wish me luck on getting that shot - I'll probably need it! 😉

A decade ago getting an in-focus flight shot of a fast-flying bird like a Pigeon Guillemot was a bit of a technical challenge (and two decades ago it was that much more difficult). Nowadays, however, if you shoot the flagship mirrorless camera models from Nikon or Sony (or even Canon) their autofocus systems are so sophisticated that much of the technical challenge is gone (assuming you know how to use those autofocus systems!). Which is, in at least one way, good - now one can use a bigger portion of their brain to concentrate on other challenges of capturing compelling flight shots, such as creative concerns and looking for "something different" in the scene or on the subject.

What do I look for when I'm culling and evaluating my own flight shots and deciding which ones are worthy of processing? Well...I'm certainly not a "flight shot specialist", but besides the obvious concerns of all flight shots (wing position, ensuring there's a catch-light in the eyes, region from tip of bill to leading edge of wing sharp, etc.) I still look for shots with great light AND with "something" different in the shot (that help it to stand out). What stands out for ME in this particular shot? Well...obviously the brilliantly-coloured feet, but also the water droplets on the top of the head and on the belly region (and those few droplets on the underside of the right wing).

On a technical note...this image was captured with a Nikon Z 9 paired up with their very "hand-holdable" Nikkor Z 800mm f6.3S PF lens. While this lens actually isn't as strong optically as either the Nikkor Z 600mm f4S TC VR (with its TC-engaged) OR the Sony FE 600mm f4 GM OSS paired up with the Sony 1.4x TC (both of these lenses are sharper than the Z 800mm f6.3S and have considerably better bokeh even when shot with their respective TC's), in my opinion the greatest strength of the Z 800mm f6.3S is in capturing flight shots. Why? Well...it's AF is fast enough (on a Nikon Z 8 or Z 9) but most importantly it's because of how easy it is to hand-hold for extended periods of time (especially compared to the 600mm f4's plus TC's discussed above). And, of course, it's a whole lot cheaper than the Nikon and Sony 600mm f4's.

Here's a larger version (4800 pixel) of this cool little seabird for your perusal:

• Caught in the Light - Pigeon Guillemot: Download 4800 pixel image (JPEG: 4.4 MB)

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

1. These images - in all resolutions - are protected by copyright. I'm fine with personal uses of them (including use as desktop backgrounds or screensavers on your own computer), but unauthorized commercial use of the image is prohibited by law. Thanks in advance for respecting my copyright!

2. Like all photographs on this website, these images were captured following the strict ethical guidelines described in The Wildlife FIRST! Principles of Photographer Conduct. As such, no baiting or any form of attractant was used and, as always, we attempted to minimize our impact on the ongoing behaviour of the subjects. I strongly encourage all wildlife photographers to always put the welfare of their subjects above the value of their photographs.

3. This image was captured during my Khutzeymateen Summer Explorer Exploratory Photo Adventure in late August of 2025. Each year I offer photo tours into various locations on the amazing BC coast, including the Great Bear Rainforest and, every other year, into the Khutzeymateen Grizzly Sanctuary (to photograph grizzlies, of course!). Details about these trips can be found on the Photo Tours page of this website.