Gannets Galore! 1/5/09

Little Talbot Island State Park – January 5, 2009

I ventured over to Talbot tonight hoping to get a pic of the Le Conte’s, which was probably still traumatized after being chased around by lots of birders (iPods in hand) yesterday. I got a glimpse or two of the sparrow, but no pics. The highlight was observing the largest flock of gannets I have ever seen. There were over 2,500 birds in one flock alone. They were close to shore on a calm ocean. The late afternoon sun made viewing magnificent. Amongst the gannets were several small pods of Bottlenose Dolphins feeding furiously.

There were not many other birds present. I had one great look at an immature Parasitic Jaeger, and there were a few Red-breasted Mergansers, but besides for gulls, that was about it. It didn’t matter though as watching this mega flock of gannets was a great treat.

Mallard 2
Hooded merganser 10
Red-breasted merganser 23
Northern Gannet – 2,750!Brown pelican 16
Great blue heron 3
Great egret 4
Turkey vulture 2
Osprey 2
Northern harrier 1
Black-bellied plover 1
Semipalmated plover 1
Willet 10
Ruddy turnstone 9
Red knot 650
Sanderling 25
Western sandpiper 15
Dunlin 300
Short-billed Dowitcher 12
Parasitic Jaeger 1 immature
Laughing gull 250
Bonaparte’s gull 6
Ring-billed gull 55
Herring gull 25
Lesser black-backed gull 2
Great black-backed gull 15
Royal tern 20
Forster’s tern 250
Black skimmer 175
Eastern screech-owl 1
Belted kingfisher 1
Northern mockingbird 1
Yellow-rumped warbler 7
Common yellowthroat 1
Savannah sparrow 3
Le Conte’s sparrow 1
Swamp sparrow 2
Boat-tailed grackle 3