Seeing a new species is always exciting and spotting a southern African vagrant, a Cape Gannet, at Point Danger was a real buzz.
Cape Gannet (foreground) (Morus capensis)
Australasian Gannet (background) (Morus serrator)
1/2500, f/10, ISO 800
This week I made a fairly impromptu dash to Point Danger, Portland with an adventurous friend. This time last year there were only a handful of gannets left on the rock, including a couple of fluffy babies and a dozen or so older chicks. This year the gannets bred earlier than usual and ordinarily there would have been virtually no birds to watch. According to the beaut and knowledgable volunteers it is very strange to have so many adults returning to the rock once the chicks have fledged.
As the sun was dropping behind the graceful wind turbines I saw a bird in flight that seemed to have a longer black, featherless, gular stripe than the Australasian Gannets. I was 80% sure but hadn’t heard whether there were any Cape Gannets around so was prepared to be told it was an unlikely sighting. The following morning the bird above landed nearby and the lengthy gular stripe was obvious, as were the darker face markings and paler head and eye.
Cape Gannet (foreground) (Morus capensis)
Australasian Gannet (background) (Morus serrator)
1/2500, f/10, ISO 800
Cape Gannets are often tricky to spot amongst a large, active group but there are other clues as well as the ones I mentioned. They are slightly bigger, weighing 2.5-3.0kg and have a deeper call which can be heard despite the general cacophony. They have an all-black tail while Australasian Gannets generally have white outer tail feathers; according to The Australian Bird Guide this feature isn’t 100% diagnostic as some Aussie gannets also have all black-tails. The stripes on the legs, feet and toes of Cape Gannets is brighter than the corresponding stripes on the Australasian Gannets (see image below for comparison).
Point Danger, Portland, Victoria
Australia’s only mainland gannet breeding colony
1/2500, f/16, ISO 1600
I usually carry my wide angle lens with me but I rarely use it, I’m always worried that some amazing bird will appear in front of me and I won’t have a long lens in my hand. I’m glad I made a brief exception at Point Danger because I think the image above gives more of an idea of the headland. To imagine you are there you need to add a lot of noise, a strong smell of guano and a smattering of fresh poop decorating your clothes, shoes and camera bag – luckily the rest of me and the camera and lens escaped being white-washed.
I almost forgot to mention the rocks digging into me as I laid, knelt or sat on the ground (I was flat on the ground for the image above, which added to the general mess I was in). And the wind whipped up and was surprising cold, sometimes I pressed the shutter button from shivering rather than intent.
Australasian Gannet (Morus serrator)
1/2500, f/10, ISO 800
The image above shows an Australasian Gannet for comparison. The gular stripe finishes just beneath the chin and the facial colouring is clearly different. The sea and cloudless sky were beautifully coloured.
Australasian Gannet (Morus serrator)
1/3200, f/9, ISO 800
When I was looking through my images for comparison shots this one made me smile. This cooperative bird seemed to know that I was looking for opportunities to photograph the Aussie bird’s gular stripe and that a comical pose would be much appreciated.
Australasian Gannet (Morus serrator)
1/3200, f/9, ISO 800
And the gular stripe shot above made me smile too.
Cape Gannet (foreground) (Morus capensis)
Australasian Gannet (background) (Morus serrator)
1/2500, f/10, ISO 800
Although the breeding season should be just about over many birds were carrying sticks, seaweed and one pair were even examining a fairly hefty piece of rope. I photographed birds mating so am wondering whether or not another batch of eggs will be layed, it seems unlikely but I am very curious and hope to head back in a couple of weeks.
Happy birding
Kim
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