When
my friends invited me to meet them at the Gannet Colony in Portland Victoria on
Saturday morning to have another crack at ticking the lone Cape Gannet how
could I refuse?
So,
on Friday evening I left Adelaide, SA and drove through the night.
Just after 6am my friends Rob and John arrived and we started searching. The next thirty minutes was like playing
Where’s Wally to spot the almost identical Cape Gannet from the thousands of
Australasian Gannets, having to pain-stakingly wait for each bird to lift it’s
head to check for the distinctly longer black, featherless gular stripe, stretching
from the base of the lower mandible down to the middle of the throat as well as checking for
the all black tail.
Finally
we had success, Rob got the bird in the scope and we got great views and photos- hi fives all round! My other birding mate arrived and was able to get straight onto the bird so we were all very happy!
The bird stayed around for about 30 minutes before flying out to sea to go fishing for the day oblivious to the small group of dancing birders nearby!
Thanks to Rob, John and Bernie for convincing me to make the journey!
With the bird ticked all was well in the world once more until I realized I then
had to drive all the way back to Adelaide again…. This time I broke up the journey, got some sleep and then did some birding around Bool Lagoon in South East SA which is always worth a visit!
Australian Reed-warbler
White-browed Scrubwren
Swamp Harrier
Swamp Harrier
Swamp Harrier
