The sky-pointing Northern Gannets nesting on Bonaventure Island, off the eastern coast of Quebec (see blog post below), are related to blue-footed boobies in the Galapagos Islands. However, the blue-foots allowed me to photograph them up close and personal, whereas I have to resort to public pictures for close-ups of their Northern Gannet cousins. Sky-pointing is a feature they have in common, along with their 5- to 6-ft. wing-span, huge webbed feet and fascinating long-beaked faces. Gannets outweigh blue-foots, however, and, of course, gannets' feet are not blue, but black.
3 comments:
Amazing how well these birds camouflage against the rocky terrain. The light blue on their webbed feet adds a nice touch of colour. Also, love the touch of mist against stone in the photo shown in your previous post. :)
Thanks, Penelope.
You're right, the blue-foots are amazingly well camouflaged, although I wonder if it protects their youngsters from attacks by the Galapagos Hawk, the islands' main predator.
The gannets, however, with their white and pale peach coloring, make the cliffs of Quebec's Bonaventure Island appear white when thousands of them are nesting there. (See third picture, below.)
Oh … I missed that the stone in the third picture below is covered with birds. Glad you mentioned it. What an incredible sight, indeed!
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