In Newfoundland they call it the Great Northern Gannet, certainly a more fitting name for this magnificent bird than the PLAD Northern Gannet. To visit Northern Gannets in nesting colonies is a life filling experience, an experience I have enjoyed twice both times in brilliant sunshine.

They pass by Nova Scotia in the fall and early winter singly and in flocks just offshore probably to hunt fish as they wing south. Their flight pattern is unmistakeable; long soarings followed by undulating actions, up and down, and occasionally a dive to catch a fish that wanders too close to the surface. I have seen them in early January off the coast near Portuguese Cove.

Northern Gannet

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