ML619067026

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

Nesting with Great Blue Herons in tall trees by footbridge at north side of south lake. Lots of nests, of which at least 20 or so were active, with at least one cormorant standing by. Some birds were flying in and adding sticks to their nests; Birds of the World says, "Adults continue to bring material until chicks leave." I didn't see any cormorants with obvious breeding plumes, which I rarely get to see. Some had the glossy black plumage and bright orange facial skin of adults, while others had the brownish coloration of immatures. Per Birds of the World, this species takes 2 years to attain adult plumage. Also: "Occasional unmated males, sometimes in subadult plumages, build complete nest and occupy it through portion of breeding season." It seemed to me that only one or two cormorant nests had visible young, but it was hard for me to tell for sure—some of what I thought were nesting adults instead might have been nearly fully grown young. Some nests were bunched together, too, so that it was hard to tell from my vantage point where one nest ended and the other began, and thus how many birds were associated with each nest. The viewing angle from around the footbridge also was a bit difficult; it might have been better to view the nest trees from farther away using a scope. One nest had a cormorant's head dangling out of it—it was motionless and I thought it was dead, but I now see others' photos of nesting cormorants occasionally resting in this position. Cormorants were flying back and forth between the nest trees and the south lake, where I saw them fishing and perching on partially submerged fallen trees.

Technical information

Model

Canon PowerShot SX620 HS

ISO

250

Focal length

112.5 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/6.6

Shutter speed

1/1000 sec

Dimensions

1338 pixels x 1003 pixels

Original file size

488.14 KB