Had some new county birds at Windmill Point this evening. First, there
were 2 common loons present in basic plumage, one of which gave good looks
as it sat on the water only 20 or 30 yards from shore. The skies were
filled with laughing gulls, but as I began scanning them through the
spotting scope, I noticed one bird in the mix dive down into the water like
a gannet. When it began flying again, its all-black wingtips, yellowish
head, pointed tail, long neck, large bill, and soaring flight immediately
identified it as a gannet. As I continued to scan through the gulls, I
noticed some more distant white birds over the bay that were diving.
Zooming in past the gulls, it became apparent that there were at least a
dozen gannets flying over the bay in all directions and diving. I've
noticed that there are very few northern neck records for the NOGA. Could
these be displaced Sandy birds? (I saw a gannet on the Susquehanna River on
Tuesday after the storm, so they were definitely affected by Sandy.) Or
are gannets common winter residents on the Chesapeake that are just not
often reported due to their tendency to stay far from shore?
Full checklist is here:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S11953327
Paul Dennehy
Kilmarnock, VA
