Cormorants are my favourite water fowl

[rirv]

Cormorants are my favourite water fowl. I rank them as the number one all round animal on the planet. They can walk on land, swim atop water like a common duck, they can swim underneath the water for minutes on end - some species to depths of 45 metres - and of course they can fly.

They hang out looking menacing on top of posts in rivers, watching, waiting. Then they swoop down and dissappear underneath the water. Try and guess where it's going to surface. Impossible. Then, just when you have given up hope the cormorant returns with a fish in its mouth. Usually the fish looks too big for the cormorant to eat but he fights it and swallows it whole arching its neck up and chugging the enemy down.

I like watching cormorants.

Wikipedia on cormorants. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cormorant)

Some pictures of cormorants. (http://images.google.co.uk/images?q=cormorant&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=pCwTSr2IG5O7jAfBz725BA&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=1&ct=title)

[TurdBerglar]

giant snapping turtles are more badass

[rirv]

They can't fly ftw.

[Documad]

They are amazing looking. They face long odds in Alaska which is where I saw them. They put all their eggs in a communal nest, up high in the open, and then have to stand there doing nothing while bald eagles pick off their babies. I guess only a small percentage of babies have to make it to repopulate the colony. I love bald eagles but it was unsettling watching them. It only takes one eagle to make havoc in a cormorant community.

Sorry to be a downer.

[TurdBerglar]

wolverines are pretty fucking cool too

[paul jones]

I don't know why but here's a picture of Dale Winton and a rabbit
http://shinymedia.headshift.com/images/photos/uncategorized/dalewinton.jpg

[cookiepuss]

cormorant is a word with nice ring to it.


but I like Osprey better. they have huge talons.

[Freebasser]

Cormorants are ok, but Tufted Ducks are where it's at (y)

[NoFenders]

They are amazing looking. They face long odds in Alaska which is where I saw them. They put all their eggs in a communal nest, up high in the open, and then have to stand there doing nothing while bald eagles pick off their babies. I guess only a small percentage of babies have to make it to repopulate the colony. I love bald eagles but it was unsettling watching them. It only takes one eagle to make havoc in a cormorant community.

Sorry to be a downer.
Same thing in Florida. Near my place there's a key that is home to many different birds. Bald Eagles are always hovering around cormorant nests. When we pull out of dock there's usually about 20 nests we pass along the back waters, and once you get near Lover's Key, the Eagles and hawks are everywhere searching for food. It's actually pretty cool to watch. Nature isn't always pretty, but it sure is facinating.

My favorite bird is either the White Ibis or Roseate Spoonbill. I know a place in that same key that is home to a huge number of them. Roseates were always hard to find, but they're coming back in big numbers from what I see. White Ibis has been around my parts since we started going down there. I just love the way the walk and look, and when they see another in the air, they fly straight up and fly with the other bird/s for a minute, and then fly directly back down to where they were before. Almost like they're just saying hi and then cruising back down.

So many birds in Florida, it just a great place for everything.