Birds

Northern Gannets in New York Waters

January 26, 2010 by Corey 5 Comments

This will be the last post using material from the pelagic trip I took over a week ago, but I think I might have saved the best for last.  Northern Gannets Morus bassanus are an amazing bird to watch, especially from a boat where one can see them up close in their element.  On the trip I was at first disappointed at how few gannets we saw and though we didn’t tally too many total, towards the end of the trip we had a couple that cooperated nicely, coming in for chum and buzzing the boat.  We never saw them do a full-on plunge dive but, really, we didn’t need to: just the experience of seeing them from so close was more than enough!

I really enjoyed taking pictures of the Northern Gannets and I think I did a decent job capturing what this graceful bird is all about…

Written by Corey
Corey is a New Yorker who lived most of his life in upstate New York but has lived in Queens since 2008. He's only been birding since 2005 but has garnered a respectable life list by birding whenever he wasn't working as a union representative or spending time with his family. He lives in Forest Hills with Daisy and Desmond Shearwater. His bird photographs have appeared on the Today Show, in Birding, Living Bird Magazine, Bird Watcher's Digest, and many other fine publications. He is also the author of the American Birding Association Field Guide to the Birds of New York.