The Cormorant's Prize

On the day this happened I almost didn't even go near the water to see it. It just goes to show you that you should explore as much as you can, wherever you are. If I hadn't decided to move down to the water near whee the crown of people stood, I would never have seen this great event.

But what am I talking about? I'm telling you about this cormorant, of course, and the fact that there is something in it's mouth. What? What is in it's mouth? It's a fish that this little double-crested cormorant has captured! I thought I had seen everything with these birds, but I saw it catch a fish!

When I arrived at the back of the park there were about four people already there. They were standing and sitting at various places of the dam's viewing platform, looking out at the lake. I avoid people whenever possible when I'm on my trails, and that's just what I intended to do on this day.

When I saw all of them there I thought I would just skip my usual stop at the viewing platform, and go check out the other side of the dam. Maybe I would see something interesting there. Maybe the geese in the water and all of those ducks wouldn't miss me at all. Yup, that's what I was going to do.

But then after I was finished watching the water flow off the dam, and I was walking back, I had a new thought enter my mind. This was my park, my trails, my dam, my viewing platform, and my lake! These people would just have to make room for the rightful owner of this park, and nature in general. So I walked over to get a better look at the geese.

It seemed to go much more smoothly than my subconscious mind had indicated just five minutes before. I don't think anyone else even knew I had arrived, or they were trying even harder not to be seen themselves. Intent on further ignoring them I stood at the railing and began taking pictures of the water birds.

That's when I saw this lone cormorant pop up to the surface of the water with a fish in its mouth! It was also oblivious to all of the humans loitering about. It didn't even notice the crowd of other birds swimming around it. It had a great prize, and nothing would stop it from enjoying its new found victory.

The cormorant usually avoids the other creatures around it when it's here in the park. But when there is a good distraction, even the closeness of the crowd of other creatures can't deter it. I like the way this bird does things. I seem to have seen this behavior somewhere before.