I was walking to the beach today in Pensacola Florida and I saw a huge white bird in the water right off the shore. At first I thought it was an American White Pelican because of its size. But then it turned its head and I almost fell down. Northern Gannets aren't even supposed to be here! Only in winter. It was apparently injured. It waddled on shore in a drunken style. It dragged its wings on shore and got pounded by waves and knocked down as it struggled to stand up and finish its journey to the high sand. Once it made it it started preening. There was one scout there already, whose job was to spot birds like this that were injured. We waited about forty five minutes until the rescue person was on the way. The lady whom I was with went to go pick up the person who was to rescue it, so I assumed responsability for keeping people from getting to close and touching the dazed bird. It was very friendly. In fact it walked up to me like a grackle would. Because it was so friendly It was more tempting to reach out and touch so I had to keep people away. It was so amazing getting to look at this bird that close. I thought I would never see one this close unless I ventured to its nesting grounds on the cliffs of Nova Scotia. I spent an entire hour just watching the bird and I also witnessed its rescue which was cool.
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