Northern Gannet (Morus bassanus)On Sunday, Pamela and I decided to join a Mass Audubon Seabird and Whale Watch trip starting out of Newburyport, MA and heading out towards Jeffrey's Ledge. We were socked in by fog for a good part of the trip, so seabird counts were a bit low. We did have plenty of immature and sub-adult gannets though, as well as a few adults - many of which were following a trawler along with hundreds of gulls. These are certainly far from my best photos I've taken, but they're the best I've got yet for these members of the booby family.
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12 comments:
Cool to see gannets. Such striking birds.
Wow! These photos look fantastic to me! Since I tend to get seasick on deep-sea trips, I doubt I'll see these in person...in the wild! Very cool...
Very nice Northern Gannet series Christopher! Makes me long even more for a trip to the Gaspe Peninsula.
These are great shots, Chris! I live in California and have yet to go on a pelagic. :-(
nice pictures, Chris. Too bad about the fog but you still got some cool shots.
It sound like an interesting trip. Gannets are always interesting to watch.
Sounds like a fun outing!
So that's what a gannet looks like. I've never bothered to look at them in my field guide.I generally don't look at birds in a field guide until I've seen them or have a good chance of seeing them.
These birds are so beautiful! What a treat to see them. I've only seen them in captivity (injured birds in 'rehab'). I hope I can see them in the wild someday.
The Morus gannets are amongst the most intriguing of the seabirds.
There are three species worldwide whose ranges seem to be mutually exclusive but recent observations suggest that vagrants turn up quite regularly in the other species' respective ranges. However, no one seems to be familiar with the separation of the species as they are generally identified by range alone and are also extremely similar in appearance. Furthermore each of the species is quite common in their own range and thus not looked at with any degree of scrutiny by local birders.
Now, here's a chance to get famous: just find a Cape Gannet off the coast of NE North America (where one is bound to occur eventually)!
Good luck.
Gannets are fun to photograph. They have graceful flights that you can follow. Good job.
Great captures Chris! Like Bob, I have not experienced a pelagic trip yet either. I am so jealous.
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