I first heard about gannets a few years ago when I was in New Zealand. There was a shore excursion to see them but I had already made other plans and so missed the opportunity. I heard that they were an interesting species of seabird and that to visit their colonies along the ocean was pretty spectacular.
Luckily for me, my friend Bonita set up a private excursion for our first day in Auckland to go out and see the gannet colony at Muriwai Beach.
Gannets are large white seabirds with yellowish heads, black-tipped wings and long bills. There are 3 different species of gannets - the northern gannet is the largest and can be found in Scotland. Another species is found in southern Africa and the last species, the ones we saw, lives in New Zealand and Southern Australia.
Gannets hunt fish by diving into the sea. They can chase their prey underwater. They dive from some impressive heights and a fast speed - up to 98 feet high and over 60 miles per hour. This feat allows them to catch fish that are much deeper in the water, unlike other seabirds who can't dive as deep or as quickly. Fun fact: because gannets have this ability to dive deep, they can eat quite a lot - so their name is often used to describe someone with a voracious appetite.
They breed on islands and on coasts and normally lay just one egg. Their feet keep the egg warm. They reach maturity at 5 years. When they are first born they are fluffy white and gray, but by the time they are one year of age, they are completely black. Then they gradually turn white.
They start nesting in August and stay at their location until close to May. At Muriwai, where we visited, the gannets were very accessible from the beach path. There were several thousand there at the first of March. When they do migrate around May, they head to the western coast of Australia, where they spend their winter in warmer weather. In August, they return. The juveniles start leaving their nests in March and April. They need to learn to fly before they can go with their parents to Australia, so they practice - a lot. When we were there it was fun to watch them try spreading their wings and walking around. They also squawk quite a lot.
Muriwai Beach is a very pretty area!!
A youngster
A juvenile "spreading his wings" Fly on little dude!
A cave at Muriwai Beach.
Muriwai Beach, at low tide. We loved being able to walk through the cave and watch the gannets from below.
After our visit to the gannet colony, we returned to the Auckland city area, where we stopped off at Cornwall Park for a short visit to nearby One Tree Hill, also known as Maungakiekie, a former Maori settlement. At the top is the grave and a monument of Sir John Logan Campbell, a founding father of the city of Auckland.
Stay tuned for more Pig Tales!!!
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