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Double Crested Cormorants
Willow Pond, on the Murray/Jordan River Parkway has been a rich resourch of DCCOs for me
Several of these strange birds take up residence in Spring and Autumn
In comparison to the Neotropic Cormorants I discovered in April, 2009, about 1/2 mile away,
Double-crested cormorants are 1/3 larger!
They especially prefer to perch in trees on a small piece of land that juts out into the pond, and are seemingly not bothered by the presence of fishermen
A DCCO cruises the fishery with dinner on its mind
Albino rainbow trout of substantial size are planted at this public fishery
And to the chagrin of fishermen close by, the fish become dinner to these birds!
Here's a classical view of a Double Crested Cormorant poised to dive for dinner
And here are three of them, drying wings, and in the process of diving
Birds in flight demonstrate a distinctive profile, different from NECOs
I was always impressed with the size of these birds while in flight
Here is an image I collected from Autumn 2009, one that shows detail of head and body