Driving across the Bribie bridge yesterday I spotted a large white bird with dark brown wingtips and a heavy pointed bill gliding on stiff wings above the ocean. This was an adult Australasian Gannet Morus serrator, who breed in large colonies to the south of Queensland and visit Bribie during the winter months, especially along the Passage between Red Beach and Kakadu Beach roost. Given their size, about 90 c, long, with a wingspan of up to 2 metres, and diving habit, they are not easily confused with other seabirds.
Many of the Bribie visitors are juveniles with more brown than white, suggesting that gannets disperse after breeding in huge island colonies numbering many thousands.
Gannets are expert fishers, soaring above the water, then folding back their wings in a spectacular dive that takes several metres under the surface. One of our winter visitors to watch out for.
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