Cormorant

This guy was really strutting his stuff! I do not know what variety of Cormorant this is - Brandts? Double-crested?

Oh very nice!! Can't help with the ID till later (bedtime now).

Thanks, Pelle - have a nice rest!!!

The bill looks too light colored to be Brandt's, I'd guess it's a first year Double-crested Cormorant. They hold their wings like that to dry them. Neat!

Thanks, Claypa! They really are fascinating, aren't they?

Does this photo help any? Quite a group of them - I think it's the same variety as the first . . . I've read that three of the varieties that live out this way will nest in the same area, just on different levels.

Their faces and bills are the best way to i d some of these. I'll stick with Double-crested, final answer... Sometimes you see huge colonies of these birds. They're not too popular with some fishermen I know - they can make a real mess! Not too good if they like to roost on your boat. They call them 'shags' and some other things...
I'd love to see them under water, they're a lot more graceful there!

I'd agree with Double-crested

That is disputed, some also say that it is something to do with holding their body in a position that aids digestion.

However, I've read of a cormorant which was watched fishing for an hour, during which it caught nothing at all; it then went and stood in a flock of other cormorants with its wings out, even though it was pouring with rain. So it wasn't drying its wings, and with no food caught, it wasn't aiding its digestion, but it was the only bird in the group with its wings out.

Conclusion . . . it was telling the other cormorants "But you should've seen the one that got away, it was this big, honest!!"

LOL - that's great!!

This flock was hanging out in a small harbor where there are quite a few boats - both fishing and pleasure. So my guess is they are not particularly adored by the owners!

And thanks to you both for the i.d.

This is the cormorant that you were talking about. Good shot!! I am very impressed with all of the photos you're getting! My camera is useless for these kinds of shots.. But then again, I got it for the macros....

Here it is using the unsharpen filter.

Ceejay, I must have something not working right (or maybe I didn't download the program correctly . . . or whatever!), but I save it and when I try to reopen it, it either says "failed to download" - this after I briefly saw the photo - or it says something about not enough memory, which is definitely not logical as I have an absolute ton of memory on this computer and also on my external hard drive where I save my pictures.

I have to forget it for awhile before I tear my hair out!!!!!!!!!! Darn anyway - it sure does make a difference!

great shots

Adding my only shot of a Cormorant, taken a few years ago.

Fabulous!!!! I definitely need to keep trying - that is a wonderful shot, Gardenpom!

Very nice shot!

"I almost got this fish that was even bigger than yours, like this, but it got away . . ."