Great Cormorants
Although I’ve seen a Great Cormorant through a scope atop a lighthouse in the Chesapeake Bay, and photographed it as a silhouetted dot for my records, having the luck and opportunity to see two at Indian River Inlet very close was very exciting!
Spotted by another club member, a pair was perched on a channel marker out in the ocean. As I went from scope to camera, one went in flight.
North American Great Cormorants
The Great Cormorant flew towards us to the top of the jetty watch tower at the inlet’s entrance and perched.
Great Cormorant
A couple minutes later, the second one followed. Once comfortably perched, it let out a call of confirmation.
Great Cormorant
Our North American Great Cormorants primarily breed in the far northeast United States, Canada, and Greenland. They are a short distance migrant and show up along the Atlantic coastline during the winter.
Writing this post, I learned there are actually a total of seven subspecies of the Great Cormorant. Six other subspecies are in Eurasia, Africa, and Australia; they are smaller and differ in breeding plumage adornments, underparts pattern, and back sheen color to our North American version.
Bay Photos by Donna 