A Gander at Gannets

[Tronhard]

I made a trip of just 30 minutes from home to our local gannet colony at Muriwai, on the NW coast of Auckland - the world's most accessible gannet colony.

These gannets are big birds, second only to the albatross in wingspan. They come to NZ to breed and then when the hatchlings reach adolescence they go to Australia to sew their wild oats before returning in a few years to start a family. Just like Kiwi humans really...

With the sun shining it was time to see how the birds were nesting. It was a hive a activity, with birds rocketing around, doing circuits and bumps. It was also a scorcher: sitting at over 28degC and one could see the birds struggling with the heat as they nested on the exposed cliffs. Meanwhile a fisher was risking his life by standing on a wave- swept rock with the tide rising. I was joined by bus loads of tourists who swarmed the lookouts and seemed more interested in taking selfies than looking at the birds.


Big waves, rising tide, no life jacket, NOT recommended...


I won't say it was crowded, but if the woman in front of me hadn't had her ears pierced I would never have seen any birds!




Renewing the bond!










Panting in the heat

[Shadowman]

Nice series, funny quip.

[mugge]

Great series. Trev, ears pierced!!!
Cheers Ole

[marlunn]

great images Trev, one of my favourite seabirds, fisherman = evolution in action, hopefully a Darwin if the worst occurs. But really hopefully he had previous know how on the location and knew exactly where to stand

[madcrow]

Awesome and beautiful, birds and images. Image to be very proud of.

[bje07]

Awesome and beautiful, birds and images. Image to be very proud of.

+1
Jean

[Chrisclick]

Nice work.

[Craigie]

A great series of images Trev

[John 2]

That's a great set of images. Close-ups of birds are always interesting but the two images that had the most effect on me were 1 and three for the story they tell (or threaten to tell in the case of the fisherman).

[bnnrcn]

Great set Trev !

[Tronhard]

Hi Mark:

I am glad you like the shots.

Not sure about the cranial development of some of these fishers, there is a steady toll of people swept off the rocks there, some of whom are rescued by the local surf life saving group from the nearby beach, but inevitably there are those who are lost.




The nature of the surf, just around the headland

great images Trev, one of my favourite seabirds, fisherman = evolution in action, hopefully a Darwin if the worst occurs. But really hopefully he had previous know how on the location and knew exactly where to stand

[Tronhard]

Not all the birds of note were gannets:

A juvenile Tui (Parson Bird) hangs out on its favourite dining plant the native flax


An adult Tui with its characteristic scrolls on its neck and wattles under its chin


A Great Black Backed Gull cruises hopefully for neglected eggs

[rpcrowe]

Wonderful images. Wish I could be there (although not with the fisherman in that precarious location)...

[Tronhard]

You would be most welcome - I would be honoured to show you around! I must admit I love showing people what a great place NZ is (actually Canada for that matter too but it's significantly larger!). I would love to take you OR ANYONE for that matter on photo safaris for my area and give them ideas of where and when to go to get great captures of what makes NZ special.

Staring down the barrel of retirement I have actually thought of doing that as a job for people who come on cruise ships, wanting great photos but with limited time and knowledge to get them. When I move back to NZ next year I shall have to ponder the possibilities...

Wonderful images. Wish I could be there (although not with the fisherman in that precarious location)...

[Tronhard]

WHY BLUE???

I am curious... in the close-up of the gannet's face one sees that they have blue colouring around their eyes. Now I believe nature applies a shotgun effect, trying (as the Vulcans apparently say) infinite variations in infinite combinations. The ones that work become dominant and then become the norm. Or to put it in a simpler way, according to Wolf's Law: "Form follows Function". SO... what is the advantage of having blue around the eyes of gannets? This is not a rhetorical question by the way...



My initial offering is that since water transmits light in the blue spectrum much better than others, an area of blue around the eye might have advantages in reflecting more light, so they can see better as they dive for food. Rather the reverse effect to those endemic to the very sunny climes who tend to have darker skin around their eyes to reduce light reflection onto the optic nerve, or American footballers and Innuit who smear dark substances to achieve the same result.

[Jim A]

Really like your photos from Muriwai, Trev, excellent, and I have seen lots of shots from that location.

Now Fred Dagg identified three Trevs, there was Trev, Trev and Trev. Which one of these are you ??

[Tronhard]

Glad you asked Jim. I'm actually the middle one! Thank you for your kind comments. I like going there during the breeding season to see their lifecycle in practice, although it gets a bit pungent after Christmas!

Really like your photos from Muriwai, Trev, excellent, and I have seen lots of shots from that location.

Now Fred Dagg identified three Trevs, there was Trev, Trev and Trev. Which one of these are you ??

[NorthernFocus]

Really a nice set, Trev. We passed through Muriwai just a couple of days before the boating disaster. Had poor weather and lighting but managed a few shots. Should have hung around longer. It took me two weeks over half the north island to get a reasonable shot of a tui

[Tronhard]

Thanks for you comments Dan. Did you go to Tiri Tiri Matangi, the bird sanctuary island in Auckland? The island is full of them and they are sufficiently used to humans that they come out to play, fight and feast without being too shy about it. There is a bird feeder right by the visitors' centre where one can just sit on a chair and watch them come to feed and fight. You even get free tea and coffee while you wait, and if it rains you just go back a few paces and sit under the roof.

I got these shots among others doing just that.

Really a nice set, Trev. We passed through Muriwai just a couple of days before the boating disaster. Had poor weather and lighting but managed a few shots. Should have hung around longer. It took me two weeks over half the north island to get a reasonable shot of a tui

[Wavelength]

Really awesome set of images....!!!