Double Crested Cormorants Stickers

And Then The Cormorants Arrived ©Debra Martz For two weeks I had only been seeing a few Double-Crested Cormorants with the American White Pelicans, even at the previous areas where I stopped and just before moving to one more place on the lake. I was pleasantly surprised, to say the least, when I saw these arriving in huge numbers. Captured at the Great Salt Plains state park in northern Oklahoma during fall migration in October.Captured at the Great Salt Plains state park in northern Oklahoma during fall migration in October. ©Debra Martz, All Rights Reserved In My Gallery/Collection: Feathered Friends 20221012-DSC_5891.NEF

A pair of black cormorants. These big black birds of the sea are a very familiar sight on any North American beach. They remind me of scruffy sturdy pirates. Or black dragons, when they spread their wings to dry.

Double-crested Cormorant perched on a tree branch.

Double-crested Cormorant Perched

Double-crested Cormorant perching on a tree branch.

A flock of Double-crested Cormorants resting on some rocks in the water.

Double-crested Cormorant perched on a tree branch.

Double-crested Cormorant with a flock of Gulls resting on a dock.

Double-crested Cormorant with seaweed on its bill.

Double-crested Cormorant perched and balanced on a tree branch.

Two Double-crested Cormorants, one perched on a tree branch and the other flying next to the Cormorant in the tree.

Double-crested Cormorant and a flock of Gulls resting on a dock.

A Double-crested Cormorant perching on a light pole.

Large Gathering of Cormorants by Debra Martz After I made my way all the way to the top steps of the spillway and looked beyond toward the dam, I was quite surprised by this Gulp of Double-breasted Cormorants! Yes, I knew this was part of their fall migration but I had not seen them gathered on the edge of the dam like this previously. A group of cormorants has many collective nouns, including a "gulp", "flight", "rookery", "sunning", and "swim" of cormorants. Captured at The Great Salt Plains Lake in northern Oklahoma. ©Debra Martz, All Rights Reserved In My Gallery/Collection: "Feathered Friends 2" 20211101-DSC_8186

A Double-crested Cormorant on a branch with its wings spread.

Disorderly Conduct by Debra Martz Sort of looks like a chaotic mess of birds with no rhyme nor reason as to their movements. Some leaving by air, while some were landing and others moving across the water in all directions. All I know is that there were large numbers of Double-crested Cormorants and Ring-billed Gulls on the move during fall migration. There could be some other Gulls in this mix as I had seen Franklin and Herring Gulls earlier. Captured at the Great Salt Plains Lake in northern Oklahoma. ©Debra Martz, All Rights Reserved In My Gallery/Collection: "Feathered Friends 2" 20211101-DSC_8219.NEF