The Soaking of a Good Bird!

It was another grey and foggy day here on the Bayou.  Other than a mass of birds at the feeders, there just was not a lot happening.  I did meander down to the pier about mid-morning just to take a gander at the water.  It has been a long week of inside projects and that water seemed to be calling me!  The Bay seemed quiet.  Pelicans were diving and a few mergansers were scooting along the marsh but nary a fish was breaking the water.  I could not find a single school of minnows to use as bait so fishing seemed hopeless. I would just have to wait a few more days to see if things improved.

As I stood there watching the mergansers, I noticed three heads pop up from under the waves.  These, at first, took me by surprise.  After just a moment, I recognized my friends the cormorants.  It has been a while since they visited the pier!  Usually, I can see them sitting on top of the posts airing out their wings but today, they were fishing.  I suppose they were having better luck than me as they kept diving.  Cormorants are one of the few "fishing" birds that do not have the oily-type feathers that ducks do.  Although they seem to get soaked after just a bit of hunting underwater, it never seems to bother them much.  The lack of preen oil is why they are most often seen with their wings spread as they roost on some sunny post.  This method of sunning allows all of their feathers to dry.

The cormorants today will most likely hang around the Bayou for the remainder of the winter.  They will scuffle with the pelicans for roosting spots on the old abandoned pier posts in the evening and will hunt for mullet and minnows during the day.  These birds never cease to put on a show for anyone who cares to sit and watch.  Me?  I will be there each day to view my friends and be amused by their antics.