cormorant

[squirl033]

while at the park this afternoon chewin' the fat with a couple of acquaintances, a double-crested cormorant came into the lagoon. at first some distance away, he gradually came closer until he was within about 30 feet of where we were standing. the light was pretty poor, but i managed these fairly decent shots... 40D, 400mm, 1/640 @ f/6.3...

 

[BobH]

Very nice shots, really sharp focus.

Why is he so low in the water? Had he just finished diving, or do they ride a lot lower than say a duck. He just seems to be almost swimming, rather than pretty much floating on top like a duck or goose.

 

[squirl033]

Very nice shots, really sharp focus.

Why is he so low in the water? Had he just finished diving, or do they ride a lot lower than say a duck. He just seems to be almost swimming, rather than pretty much floating on top like a duck or goose.

thanks, Bob... cormorants just ride lower. they spend as much time underwater as on the surface anyway, so sitting a little lower in the water doesn't bother them. when they want to dry off, they roost on pilings and piers and rocks, and spread their wings to dry their feathers.

 

[BobH]

thanks, Bob... cormorants just ride lower. they spend as much time underwater as on the surface anyway, so sitting a little lower in the water doesn't bother them. when they want to dry off, they roost on pilings and piers and rocks, and spread their wings to dry their feathers.

OK, that makes sense. Actually, if they dive quite a bit having lots of bouyancy is a bad thing, it just makes it that much harder to get below the surface.

I've seen them do the feather drying thing. They like to hang out on pilings down at Titlow Beach park near the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. They sit there with their wings spread and feathers fanned and let the sun and wind dry them.