Just for Taz....some of these have been posted here before but not for a long time. The juveniles were at Alexandra headland beach one day fishing in a frenzy as the bait fish were trapped very close to the water's edge. They were just incredible to watch and at the time I had no idea even what they were!
They are amazing as they just do fly bys and circle round and back again over and over so you can work out where they will come next time round . We have tried to work out how they see the fish and have decided that they must see the glint as they reflect under the surface ... they were pretty accurate most of the time.
This one was a bit older and taken a few weeks ago, you can see the change in markings . I will have to search for the most recent ones as I haven't been uploading stuff lately :')
I just love those photos, even if they are for Taz. Those Gannets remind me of those German "Stuckas" , the war plains that attacked like those birds. (I'm not that old to remember this, but my mother told me about them)They came strait down out of the sky , just like those birds, making a sharp whisteling noise.
M-L
Sorry.... they were not meant just for Taz LOL I posted them just because she asked me to :)
Still trying to find some from this month , they are not as good as these though .
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Haven't got any recent ones of diving as I have not been quick enough but they circle and glide while looking intently at the surface and below as you can see with this one.... then they dive, retract fully their wings and splat...under they go ...hopefully to emerge with a fish in their bills !
here you can see one in glide and spy mode...
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Yay! Thanks Birdie! These are great shots, very dynamic! Just watch them wheeling over the waves. Especially love the progression of the fold-wings-dive sequence. Lucky you getting to see the live-action aerobatics ;D
All the beaches I've been to only had hungry noisy silver gulls in huge numbers. Maybe an occasional nankeen kestrel.
It must take keen eyes, precision, timing and stealth to target fish just from a fleeting glint under the waves. Well the juves were taught well :) Have they changed plumage since then? Is the one above one of them?
They really do look like spy planes gliding like that. Surveying the marine geography below for a potential meal :p
Beautiful shots, I feel privileged to see them :) thanks for sharing them. Good luck with finding the recent ones, loving them!
Taz
Thanks Taz and yes , the last one is how they would look now as adults. they are quite beautiful in each stage with very different colours and markings
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Too right. The mottled plumage of the juveniles gives them a very painterly look and then of course the iconic gold crown on white in the adult stage displays a certain royalty to their maturity.
Taz
You have a lovely way with descriptive words Taz
Sunshine Coast Queensland
:) Just add a pinch of imagination to flavour your appreciation of birds and stir.
Ok this is overdoing it.
I haven't seen one express ornithological romanticism with as much flair as Colin Thiele. I would read and re-read all his books in my library at Primary School during lunchtimes.
I'm surprised that he didn't write about Gannets though.
But here's a very good one: [url]http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-gannet-s-last-song-written-after-an-oil-spill-killed-seabirds-in-galloway-corsewall-point-scotland-1991/[/i]
Taz
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-gannet-s-last-song-written-after-an-oil-spill-killed-seabirds-in-galloway-corsewall-point-scotland-1991/
LOL It's late I should go to sleep
Taz
Taz... dodgy web page but great that someone wrote like that.... shame it took an oil spill for it to be written and published .
I'll have to look up Colin Thiele
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Hey Taz ...... sorry, didn't realise he wrote Storm Boy ..that was great :)
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Wonderful shots Birdie to catch them hunting is great and I love the ones with the wings folded back. When I saw them they didn't dive once.
Cheers, Owen.
Take a gander at those gannets!! For some reason my soul soars when I see pictures of these. Imagine what it would do if I saw gannets in the feather. I think it's because they're such a spectacular spectacle.
Woah Woko I see alliteration left, right and centre.
Growing-up gannets glide gleefully in the great gale with grace glaring with goggle-eyes for guppies in the gleaming gush ggggg I give up
I loved Storm Boy :) It's so sad though.
Taz
....please explain the alliteration to an "old" french girl! I have only seen "Storm Boy" the film, should I now read the book in English ?? Would I get lots of enjoyment out of it?? If more than one prson says "yes", I will go out and buy it!!!
M-L
Here's a clue Araminta..... in this case it refers to the letter "g"
Sunshine Coast Queensland
I think he film does the book justice :) If you've seen the film already you've pretty much covered the book, I suggest you read his other books. My favourite books by Colin Thiele are Wedgetail and Swan Song. My favourite picture book is Pannikin and Pinta - I think that is my all time favourite actually. It's worth buying because even the illustrations are gorgeous.
I'll let you figure the alliteration yourself, Araminta ;)
Taz
thanks Adrienne, thanks Taz. Back into my little narrow box I go. I will have a look for the Colin Thiele books. ( I must have missed a lot, by not having had "an ordidinary childhood" in Australia??? (Adrienne, I just borrowed a book by Henry David Thoreau, that should further my education ?? I want to catch up with the rest of you!LOL)
M-L
I'm not really sure what is "an ordinary childhood". Playing with your Barbie Dolls, watching Teletubies, playing Call of Duty with the Xbox you got at Christmas, singing Justin Beiber songs in front of the mirror... if that's the case, you aren't missing anything at all Araminta :) You don't need to keep up with the Joneses to further your education. Delving into philosophy is a good way to go though :)
Taz
Yeah good point there Taz.... though I don't see too much wrong with Teletubbies LOL
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Hihihi, wasn't there one with a tiny handbag?? (pinky ?) I love gay tubbies !!! ( lots of my friends are, pink? tiny? gay? You take a pick! LOL ,love them all!
M-L
Tinky-winky - the purple one - the "gay" one *refrains from bringing up the Chaser - too late*
Well I liked Po and his/her little scooter :)
Taz
And LaLa ..... couldn't remember that one..... had to ask my daughter :')
Sunshine Coast Queensland
lol nice one Birdie :) And how can we forget Dipsy?
Oh dear, sorry for taking your thread on an another interesting tangent Birdie.
Taz
Hi guys,
I stumbled on to this thread and thought you may be interested in the work I've been doing on the impacts of inshore commercial netting on fish populations. Commercial netting of course doesn't just impact on fish species' populations.
Gannets and seabirds generally, are reliant on predatory fish species such as tunas, mackerels, tailor as well as dolphins to herd baitfish to the shallow shoreline or to the ocean surface where the seabirds can access their prey. The baitfish would simply stay deeper in the water column to avoid predation from seabirds without the predatory fish presence. The predatory fish herd the baifish to the shore or ocean surface to reduce avenues of escape.
When commercial fishing depletes predator fish populations as has occurred and continues to, seabird populations fall accordingly. Compounding the issue for the likes of gannets and shore based terns such as Little, Common, White-winged Black Terns and Crested Terns, is that inshore and beach netting forces the predatory species offshore as a conventional antipredator response - to nets, their most lethal predator. This causes longer flight distances for shore based seabirds to feed each time and for prey to not be where seabirds have evolved with ready prey at their disposal.
Dead juvenile gannets are currently strewn all along the beach where I live on the Noosa North Shore and have died of starvation due to tailor, which the juvenile gannets rely on at this time of year to do the herding, being overfished to the point where they are now in a state of population collapse. Crested terns are badly affected by this scenario as are the migratories whose numbers have halved in this region since 2004.
The 'non-consumptive effects' of net fishing on species are very significant, but are not considered at all by fishery managers or conservationists. This must change if we are to sustain fish, seabird, dolphin, turtle and shark populations.
Cheers
Lindsay Dines