A brown booby, common in the tropics, made a surprise visit to Spruce Run Reservoir in Hunterdon County on Aug. 27, 2016.
A brown booby, common in the tropics, made a surprise visit to Spruce Run Reservoir in Hunterdon County on Aug. 27, 2016. (courtesy photo)A brown booby, common in the tropics, made a surprise visit to Spruce Run Reservoir in Hunterdon County.
The large seabird landed on landed on the fleet captain's sailboat during the Hunterdon Sailing Club's annual Ladies Fleet Regatta held on Saturday.
"I've never seen anything like it," said Ladies Fleet Captain Katie Kiernan, who was racing her 19-foot Flying Scot sailboat. "It took all of us by complete surprise because it was a fairly large bird that perched on the top of the mast while we were sailing, and stayed with us for almost 15 minutes."
The bird was photographed by members of the race committee, who were photographing the Ladies Day event.
Spruce Run Recreation Area is frequented by the local American Birding Association "Birder" community. One of their members was able to identify the bird once the fleet arrived back on shore.
It is uncommon to see a brown booby so far inland and so far north. This sighting was reported on the American Birding Association website, in addition to one spotted at Merrill Creek Reservoir in Warren County in July.
What is truly unique is for the brown booby to land on the mast of a moving boat, especially one owned by the captain of the Ladies Fleet on the day of their annual regatta, said Jay Halsted of the Hunterdon Sailing Club.
The club was founded in 1964 as a not-for-profit group dedicated to promoting the sport of sailing, through sailboat racing, cruising and sailing lessons. It has been serving the community for 52 years in its home waters of Spruce Run Recreation Area.