The Cormorant's Return

I found one of my favorite birds not too long ago. I've seen these birds many times, but I've been waiting for them to come back. This bird is a double-crested cormorant. On most summer days there is at least one of these big birds somewhere on this lake. I've seen as many as three.

I didn't catch the cormorant at a rare time in the picture above. A cormorant will hold its wings open like that for long periods of time so it can dry them in the Sun. They have to do that because they don't have the same natural oils on their feathers that repel water that a lot of other water birds, like ducks, do.

From a distance these birds can sometimes look rather sinister or bat-like when they are perched like this with their wings spread open. Some people consider them to be pests, and they most likely are in some places. But there aren't very many of them in my lake, so they're just fine here.

The cormorant is perching on a piece of wood that's sticking up out of the water. This is a favorite place of theirs. A cormorant can almost always be found on something like this when it's not swimming. They are perching birds. I always try to get a look at this area when I first am able to see the lake. I'm always hoping the cormorants will be there.

This is what they do when they're not up on their perches. The cormorants will swim around the lake getting ready to find some fish to eat. From the land they look like little dinosaurs or lake monsters when you see them like this.

They will dive under the water for a long time trying to catch fish. One second you see them, and the next second they're gone. They eventually pop back up to the surface far away from where they started. They're actually kind of fun to search for when they do this.

Okay, that's my post for today. I had to do this one quickly because I was having quite a bit of trouble getting onto the internet since my last post. As soon as I was able to connect I began typing this post up. I hate when it has to happen this way. Now I have to go and see about Nature Center Magazine. I hope to see you there.