Yesterday I was in charge of the kids for a couple of hours so I decided that a trip up to Campbell River was in order. I figured that after about 3o minutes of driving they would both be asleep and I could do some roadside birding along the shoreline. In particular, I was hoping to find some Brandt’s Cormorants since that is a species I need to add to my 2010 Year List. Campbell River has produced Brandt’s in the past and I had my fingers crossed for a repeat.
Unfortunately, I was only able to locate some Double-crested Cormorants near the coal loading terminal. I was limited to locations where I could park my car and get out and bird – walking wasn’t an option unless I wanted to wake up my charges. As they say, “Let sleeping babies lie and enjoy the quiet.” The Double-crested Cormorants were still pretty neat to see though – I never get tired of watching them spreading their wings out to dry.
Back in 2004 during the Deep Bay Christmas Bird Count I had a little more success and actually saw all three cormorant species in one place. Here’s the post that I wrote back in December 2004:
Flashback to Deep Bay CBC, 2004
By far the highlight of the count was a “lesson” in cormorant identification. At the south end of our area we returned again to the water and were lucky to view all three possible cormorants resting on one raft near the shore.
In the photograph above the double-crested cormorant is identified by both its size and the orange colour of its bill. On the right side of the photograph is a single pelagic cormorant, the bird that is noticeably smaller than the double-crested cormorant behind it. Note also the smaller head and thinner bill and neck of this bird. Finally, a pair of Brandt’s cormorant complete the image. These cormorants are on the edge of the raft closest to the viewer and are facing each other. They are somewhat similar in size when compared to the double-crested cormorants behind them but their bills are dark in colour and their feathers are more “greenish black.” This group of cormorants provided an excellent opportunity to observe all three species and pick out diagnostic identification features.
Fast forward to 2010 – I’ll have to keep looking for the Brandt’s Cormorant. It’s all part of the fun of keeping a year list!
Thanks for this post. Too bad you didn’t find the Brandt’s Cormorants, but I learned something new, and will be on the lookout for them. (You might want to talk to Henry Wong at Broadway Camera (Oak and West Broadway). He’s quite the bird photographer, and absolutely passionate about finding the best options for his bird-watching customers.)
Great photo of all 3 cormorants together. I saw many cormorants on a trip to Elkhorn Slough in Northern California. I identified them as Double-Crested, but now I’m wondering if some of them may have been Brandt’s or Pelagic.
Thanks for the tip Carol – think that I might wait until after the Olympic circus is over before taking another trip to the Lower Mainland! I’ve got some ideas for a good telephoto lens, just need to save the pennies up to buy it!
Hi John,
I checked the Elkhorn Slough bird list and they do have records of all three cormorants occurring there with Double-Crested and Brandt’s being a little more likely than Pelagic. Might be worth a return trip?!?
Nice photo of all 3 cormorants. I found a feather near a ferry terminal that perhaps is a cormorant tail feather–about a foot long, solid black with a shaft that is brownish blackm almost copper color. It must belong to a rather substantial bird given the solidness of the shaft. I haven’t found a website yet that fully identifies cormorant feathers. Do you know of one?
Hi Colleen,
I’m not sure on sites but you might want to try contacting the folks at http://www.featherguide.com/ – they don’t have anything on-line but it looks like they’re compiling a database of NA bird feathers. Sounds likely that you have a cormorant feather. Seems to me that their feathers aren’t as oily as other waterbirds (that’s why they spread their wings to dry them out in the sun) – not sure if you’d notice that feature on a shed feather.
Good luck – sorry for the delay in replying!