December 22, 2024 4:43 pm
Double breasted cormorant
A pair of roaming cormorants descended onto the Evergreen Brick Works ponds.
I had mixed emotions about this event. I had not seen them there before.
That does not mean to imply that their visit was the first, just because I had not seen them prior to this.
If this pair stays or even just visits for a few days, I know that the fish in the ponds will not last long. The three small ponds do not have much space for fish to hide or escape the voracious appetites of these invaders.
take off eh!
When fishing, cormorants use their webbed feet and wings under the water to propel themselves towards the prey. They are very efficient with this method.
Too efficient for this small pond environment!
My thoughts drifted toward the other fish hunting bird species that frequent here; The Great Blue Heron, Black-Capped Night Heron and Belted Kingfishers.
I guess they will find their greener pastures elsewhere whilst the fish get gobbled up, and nature takes this course.
On the personal selfish side, I can be fairly close to a bird that I would not normally be able to, to watch and photograph going about their daily lives.
So, I had better just play out the hand that I am dealt with.
investigating
Cormorants seem to ride low on the water, very similar to Loons.
From a distance it would be very easy to mis- identify these two species.
The pair often came quite close to the ponds edges to investigate my presence.
As long as I kept any movements to the minimum, they remained unperturbed with me.
If I stood up, then they would dive below and resurface 30-50 feet away.
Thats not good for photography!
rising up
Often a catch would be from behind the fish, and the cormorant would need to resurface to juggle and flip the fish, enabling it to swallow head-first.
I was lucky enough to watch this several times.
But I never knew where or when and had to be ready to click at a seconds notice.
I remember saying a few times, ‘Can you do that again, I missed it’!
And of course it did!
i got fish
After a day of hunting and feeding, a good time is spent with wings spread open to dry out the down and feathers. The suns warming rays must feel good after the colder waters.
The very typically seen posture of cormorants.
sunning at the edge
There is a large colony of thousands of these birds that make their summer home at the Toronto Islands, migrating south to over-winter.
The photograph below was taken at the breakwater pier near Sunnyside Beach, off Lakeshore Blvd.
This was the closest I could get to the cormorants without invading their colony territory.
This image was only possible with using 2 x 2 times multiplying lenses with a 400 mm lens.
Sometimes, you have to be at the right place at the right time too… that helps!
just asking for a friend
There have been efforts to try to move the colony back to Tommy Thompson Park, [Leslie St Spit] where they did originally live.
However, the arrival of a pair of Bald Eagles to the cormorant colony, that migrated for the winter, has thrown a wrench in the works.
Restrictions and regulations as to the human proximity to nesting Bald Eagles have to be upheld.
This situation may take some time to unfold.
We will have to wait for further events to develop.
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