Birding is a lot like fishing: you have good days and you have bad days, but even a bad day can be saved by a remarkable catch. That proved true on our visit to the Westbrook Marina when we didn’t see many Brown Pelicans, or other birds for that matter, until we had walked to the end of the jetty. I was checking out the pier across the entrance for Pelicans when Leslie called my attention to several nesting Brandt’s Cormorants.
I’ve taken so many pictures of Cormorants in these pierhead beacons that I barely looked at them as I snapped a photo, but Leslie demanded that I take a closer look, so I zoomed in and was surprised but what I saw.
I’ve seen this a few times in photos in magazines, but I’ve never personally seen a Brandt’s Cormorant in breeding plumage like this. Nor have I ever managed to get this close before.
I was even more surprised when a nearby cormorant elevated his head and exposed just how big that bright blue gular pouch really is.
As if I weren’t impressed enough, it struck an even more striking pose
before flying off and revealing the nesting bird behind it.
I was surprised to learn that the breeding plumage for both male and female Brandt’s Cormorants is basically the same except that males tend to be larger.
We saw hundreds of shorebirds later in the day at Bottle Beach, but this moment turned out to be the unexpected highlight of the day.
Beautiful! Have you sent the pix to Cornell/Audubon?
I will sometimes share them in groups on Facebook, but I wouldn’t even know how to submit them to Cornell/Audubon.