Tag Archives: cormorants

I’ve Never Seen Cormorants Be So Social

I took a walk by Bachman Lake next to Dallas Love Field as part of my weekend in the area.  Clearly I was there because of the planes but there was a lot of bird activity over the lake.  Given how this was right under the approach to the airport, I was surprised that they weren’t doing anything to deter the birds.  Putting that aside, I was happy to see a lot of cormorants.  I was surprised to see how they were hanging out together.

Cormorants tend to rest in larger groups.  You might see them on pylons near the water or piles in the water in large groups providing some safety in numbers.  However, they tend to go off hunting alone.  I have seen the occasional pair of cormorants flying together but most of the time they are on their own.  The Bachman Lake residents were very different.  They were flying around in a large flock.  They circled around the lake and then landed in a large group on the water.  They would then take off together and fly around as a group again.  I wonder if this is common in other areas.

Silhouettes on the Water

My sunbathing cormorant got his own post here as a result of being easy to photograph in the evening light.  There were plenty of other cormorants around that evening but the rest were around the piles out in the water in into the sun.  That did make for some nice silhouette shots instead so here they are.  You won’t be able to identify individual cormorants, though.

Cormorants Lined Up for Inspection

It’s been too long since we last had a cormorant on the blog.  Time to rectify that.  These are not action shots.  Instead, as we walked along the shoreline on Bainbridge Island, there was a wooden beam out in the water.  The cormorants were lined up waiting for me.  I think they knew I didn’t have a long lens with me, otherwise they would probably have flown off.  Instead, they were hanging out in the sun drying themselves.  My choice was to shoot from along the beam or side on.  I went with both!