Hi all, After the intense nor-easter storm the day before, birders along CT's shore witnessed large numbers of Northern Gannets in Long Island Sound yesterday, April 4. Most/all were flying west; some were noted diving for food. Many were in close to shore. - Around noon at Hammonasset SP, Jean Adamus tallied 80+ Gannets. - Later at Hammo, Russ Smiley counted 100, then stopped counting (3:04-4:19). He got a photo of one eating a fish (eBird). - At 4:00pm Tom Murray tallied 73 in just 5 minutes at Milford Point. - Then Stefan Martin counted 412 in 65 minutes (4:16-5:21pm) from Stratford Point, with groups of up to 12 birds. The all-time high count of Gannets in CT was 814 at Stratford Point on April 12, 2017, also by Stefan Martin (eBird), an incredible sight! Where were all these Gannets heading? They are currently migrating north to their breeding cliffs in the Canadian Maritimes. Presumably the two days of strong east winds blew them into Long Island Sound. But why were they all heading west? Perhaps they were trying to find an exit back to the Atlantic Ocean. But why not go back east to exit the Sound at the Race? Frank Mantlik Stratford

Hi Frank, There were still at least three Gannets this morning at Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison and I think a few others have been seen flying around in Long Island Sound today. Over the last several weeks, I have seen one or two Gannets out in the sound several times, at varying distances from the shore, and it seems that they are almost always flying west. Two out of three of the birds I saw this morning were flying west, the other was headed east. Being a bird that has a very long range, I suspect that they are just working the sound looking for food and not necessarily actively migrating. It’s just a theory! Chuck Imbergamo CT Birds Moderator Madison > On Apr 5, 2024, at 10:07 AM, Frank Mantlik via CTBirds <ctbirds@lists.ctbirding.org> wrote: > > Hi all, > After the intense nor-easter storm the day before, birders along CT's shore witnessed large numbers of Northern Gannets in Long Island Sound yesterday, April 4. Most/all were flying west; some were noted diving for food. Many were in close to shore. > - Around noon at Hammonasset SP, Jean Adamus tallied 80+ Gannets. > - Later at Hammo, Russ Smiley counted 100, then stopped counting (3:04-4:19). He got a photo of one eating a fish (eBird). > - At 4:00pm Tom Murray tallied 73 in just 5 minutes at Milford Point. > - Then Stefan Martin counted 412 in 65 minutes (4:16-5:21pm) from Stratford Point, with groups of up to 12 birds. > The all-time high count of Gannets in CT was 814 at Stratford Point on April 12, 2017, also by Stefan Martin (eBird), an incredible sight! > Where were all these Gannets heading? They are currently migrating north to their breeding cliffs in the Canadian Maritimes. Presumably the two days of strong east winds blew them into Long Island Sound. But why were they all heading west? Perhaps they were trying to find an exit back to the Atlantic Ocean. But why not go back east to exit the Sound at the Race? > > Frank Mantlik > Stratford > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via email, send an email with just "join" or "leave" in the subject or body to: ctbirds-request@lists.ctbirding.org > > CTBirds, a service of Connecticut Ornithological Association - Bringing birders together statewide. Please support COA: https://www.ctbirding.org/join-us/ > > CTBirds is for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut. For list rules and subscription information visit: https://www.ctbirding.org/birds-birding/ct-birds-email-list/