Dave Mitford, Barbara Harvey and I looked for the Cape Gannet at Point
Danger, Portland in Victoria this afternoon. The conditions were not
good, but are forecast to be worse tomorrow ...... Windy,
threatening rain but fortunately it held off, cooing down (Thankfully,
I put my heavy windproof jacket on. I wish I had put m gloves on!)l,
.......
Dave arrived at about 14:00. Barbara and I arrived about 15:00.
Conditions were difficult. We concentrated on the left side of the
colony where the bird was first seen, but we occasionally scanned
across the colony at times.
Dave was the first to find the aberrant bird that had a week earlier
been considered as a candidate for a Northern Gannet. It was just
left of centre of the colony. There is a tall metal pole about 1/3
from the right of the colony, left of that a smaller pole, left of
that an orange artefact and slightly left of that in the middle was
the aberrant bird. It has secondaries that alternate black and
white.
Time passed with no success for the Cape Gannet. Our concentration
waned. Then at 16:40 I just happened to scan the right side of the
colony and "I'VE GOT IT!!" was the cry I was lucky to pick the
moment it decided to put its head up and shake its head. There is no
mistaking the bird when you see it. From the right side of the
viewing platform. line up the tall pole, and it was above the right
diagonal guy wire. Great relief. We continued to look and from
time to time it would lift its head and show its throat. Other birds
mostly blocked the view of its tail, but for a short period the all
dark tail was in view.
The question remains. Why has it moved from the left side of the
colony to the centre of the right side?
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