Many residents belonging to the Gannet Colony at Muriwai Beach near Auckland on the North Island of NZ, take flight and soar above the high rock cliffs where the rest of the gannets stay. The Australasian Gannets are considered as expert fishers, where they take flight some ten meters above the surface and then dive bomb the fish and usually finish their meal before reaching the surface.
Often there is a solitary gannet flying about, but it is very common to see small flocks take flight with the odd one diving fast towards the water. Many of the other gannets will stay behind and keep an eye on their chicks who have recently hatched atop this cliff.
Gannet Colony, Morus serrator, at Muriwai Beach, Muriwai, near Auckland, Waitakere, West Coast, North Island, New Zealand.
Technical Information:
I photographed this photo with the digital SLR camera model Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II, aperture of f/7.1, exposure time of 1/640 sec. on ISO 200, as always I used a original Canon Lens, the focus lenght for this picture was 310mm.