Help Comes In All Shapes

   This past year has been a rough one in so many ways...not just for me but for people everywhere.  While others faced a world-wide pandemic, I faced more personal storms in the way of illness and, well, storms.  Generally, the year 2020 has officially been marked down as a pretty rotten year for most folks.  Still, we have to look at things in a different perspective if we ever wish to get past our troubles.  I, for one, refuse to let things linger long. 

  All along the top edge of one section of the garden fence, there are dozens of cormorant feathers tucked safely in between the wire and railing.  Why?  Well, it all started as a way of coping with the massive cleanup after Hurricane Zeta.  I had found a long, black feather in the debris.  Not thinking much about it since surely a few feathers were lost during the storm, I stuck that feather into the crevice of the bark of a pine tree.  I promptly forgot about the feather until I found another.  That, too, was stuck in the tree bark.  Then another...and another.  About this time, Son was becoming a bit confused and questioned my actions.  Flippantly, I replied that I was saving the feathers in case I came across the whole bird.  "The bird will need its feathers once I find it!"  It had already become clear that the bird had not survived.  As I worked, I kept poking feathers along the tree trunk. It was Son who first stuck one in the garden fence and I soon followed suit.  Thus, our feathered fence became a thing.

 After a few days, finding and collecting the feathers sort of blocked out the reality of the devastation around us.  We could focus our attention on retrieving the feathers and not the huge piles of debris.  Silly?  Probably to most folks but to us, it was simply an act to relieve stress.  (It still saddens me that the bird perished during the storm.)  Now, the top of the fence proudly wears the feathered crown and I am reminded to not let stress get to me.  I assume that the feathers will stay as long as Mother Nature allows them to do so.  The wind and rain have split and curled the feathers into curious shapes so that now they are more of a point of interest in the yard...a point of interest that saved a bit of my sanity.

I'm Flying!

   I have a tendency to name a lot of the critters on the Bayou.  When you spend as much time with them as I do, you begin to see that critters, like people, have personalities.  They are unique.  Some are cranky and wish to be left alone.  Some are daring as they face danger with flair.  Some are comedians who wish only to garner attention.  It only seems natural that they have given names.  I usually watch a critter for a few weeks before the perfect name becomes apparent.

  Meet Rose!  This cormorant has been hanging around the pier for the past few weeks.  Others have come and gone on their merry way but Rose lingers.  That is all good.  Rose was, at first, timid and would make a hasty getaway when I ventured too close.  Now, she has broken free of her fears and is quite the happy thing.  Watching her brings smiles knowing that she is learning to trust me.

  Now why Rose?  Why did I choose this lovely name for my new friend.  Well, one morning as I was nearing the end of the pier, the cormorant was on my brother's pier across the way.  She had obviously been busy catching breakfast by diving deep under the water and needed to dry her feathers.  She stood facing the sun with her wings spread open.  The first thought that entered my head was how great the resemblance was to Rose on the movie "Titanic".  From her new found freedom to the open-winged stance, the cormorant demanded the "Rose" moniker.  From this point onward, our lovely cormorant shall be called "Rose" and will be welcomed as a friend.

Deadly Poop!

  Early this morning, the hike to the pier was not the most comfortable.  The storm from overnight was lingering into the morning so a drizzly rain made the hike be shortened.  While on the pier, however, I did have the opportunity to photograph a pair of cormorants as they sat on the pier posts of my brother's pier.  These birds have to do a good bit of "drying out" as their feathers are not "water-proof" like most waterfowl.  The cormorants' feathers become waterlogged making it difficult to swim and to take flight from the water.  This morning's drying session was rather a moot effort as the rain had to be saturating the feathers.  

  As often as I have photographed these birds, I actually never knew one point.  While way up north on the river tug, Mark saw numerous nests in the trees on an island in the river.  One of his coworkers told him that they were cormorant nests.  The man went on to explain a bit about the birds and their use of the trees.  According to him, the birds nest in huge colonies and the excrement from the birds can literally kill any plant life beneath their nesting sites.  This included the very trees that the birds used as sites for their nests.  The man said that whole islands were devoid of trees simply because of the birds pooping.  

  As I stated, I had never known this fact so a bit of research was in order.  Come to find out, the story is true.  The bird poop does kill the vegetation (even trees) when a colony of several hundred cormorants repeatedly use the same nesting site.  This has even caused an uproar among people with different mindsets....those who wish to protect the trees and those who wish to protect the birds.  Things have even gone so far as to have people shoot hundreds of the birds only to find themselves being arrested.  Those shooting the birds were breaking the law since they shot migratory birds.  All migratory birds are protected by federal law.  Over the years, the illegal killing of cormorants has escalated to the point that thousands upon thousands of the birds are shot. Something had to be done as it was getting out of hand.  Laws were passed to allow the killing of a certain number of birds each year if done correctly with permits.  In some states, even the eggs are "oiled" to prevent hatching.  All in all, about 40,000 adult birds are killed each year (that number is the reported kills) but this does not include the killing of chicks.  This has some folks livid.  "How can anyone condone the killing of 40,000 birds each year??"  Well, when it comes to cormorants, that is about 2% of the population in the United States so it is an easy point to argue.  Still, even with these "kills", the bird population is burgeoning.

  I did find it interesting that the bird poop kills plants so I checked a bit further and it seems that the poop is high in nitrogen and phosphorous.  When used in small amounts, these are nutrients that help plants grow but when thousands of birds roost in a small area, the poop piles up several feet deep.  That extreme amount does the damage.  (After having to clean the chicken houses back on the farm, trust me when I say it does not take long for poop to pile up.)  To take this a bit further, being as the birds nest near water, those "nutrients" find their way into the waterways.  This is being declared as having a adverse effect to everything!  According to some studies, the excess of nitrogen causes extreme algae bloom which can be highly dangerous.  The birds are not only killing plants, they are polluting the water!  And let us not forgo the argument that as the cormorants are taking over prime nesting sites, other birds and wildlife are either dying out or having to move elsewhere.

  My stance on this whole spat?  It is hard to say.  Perhaps if the cormorants were killing every bit of plant-life (and, therefore, all the critter life) in the back of the Bayou, I would find it hard to not condone the limiting efforts.  As it is, we are in the "non-breeding" zone of the birds so the problem has not hit home.  While I usually live by the mantra of live and let live, there has to be a solution that would please everybody (cormorants included) and it definitely seems that people are attempting to find the answer.  This does make me appreciate the fact that these birds are migratory!

Just Doing A Bit Of Running

  My hike this afternoon took me well back into the woods near the creek bed.  I had hopes of venturing across the creek to a spot where the spider lilies grow.  I figured that since most snakes would be sluggish, it would be a good time to dig up a few bulbs for the garden.  My plan did not include the copious amount of rain that was just dumped on the area.  There was no getting near the creek much less crossing it.  The low area was a sloppy mess!  So much for good intentions!  That said, I was diverted to (of all places) the pier.  Being as that is my peaceful spot, it only seemed natural to be there.

  While there, I noticed large birds swimming in the distance.  Three Double-crested Cormorants were busy diving beneath the water.  Just as I thought it was a good time to get photos, the birds opted to vacate the area!  I was left with very few photographs and no birds.

  Double-crested Cormorants are funny birds.  It seems that they spend more time under water than on the surface.  They can make long dives in search of food.  In fact, they would rather dive than fly to get away from a threat.  Watching the birds take flight from the water is sort of like watching a comedy show.  They literally "run" on the water's surface to take off in flight.  I happened to catch that "running" in one photograph before the birds went out of range.