Tag Archives: cormorant

Lots to Worry About: NPM26 #11

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After I posted Cormorant Convention yesterday, a friend and environmentalist reached out to let me know about the seabird starvation event that is happening in coastal California. Cormorants, pelicans, and murres are being affected–not able to find sufficient fish to keep them healthy. The Verselove prompt this morning was about love (or other abstract concepts or emotions) and worry started weaving itself into my writing brain. (I encourage you to check out the mentor text–both the original inspiration and the one written by Kate.)

I worry about birds

the kind of worry that sprouts wings

and flies close to my heart.

Worry doesn’t limit itself though

it grows round

and orbits the sun.

Can I actually enjoy summer weather

when it comes in February

without the dread of what will come next?

Worry snakes itself around my lungs

keeping my breath shallow.

Am I doing enough for the planet?

Does re-using, re-cycling, re-ducing, composting, picking up trash

on my precious beach

make a difference?

Does it really matter?

When I am delighting in the golden glow

of giant kelp

or the colorful quirkiness

of a nudibranch

am I not worrying enough?

I swat at worry

a gnat, a fly, a mosquito bluzzing

determined to make me itch.

Worry is exhausting.

Let me rinse my feet in the cool briny sea

letting hope and possibility

drip into my pores

urging me forward.

I still worry about the birds.

@kd0602

Cormorant Convention: NPM #10

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I had planned to write about a place I love, the beach, in line with the Verselove prompt. But then during my end-of-the-work-week beach walk this afternoon I noticed a cormorant standing on the beach. Cormorants aren’t really common beach birds and are not regular visitors to our local beach. So seeing them always send a shiver of concern up my spine. I worry that they are sick when I see them on the beach. Of course I took a few pictures and then continued my walk. Then, looking out at the waves (good sized today) I noticed the tons of birds in the water…I thought they would be pelicans. That would be usual. But no, they were cormorants! They bounced with the waves. Some flew by and others were making their way out of the surf and parading toward the beach. It was obviously a cormorant convention! What brought them? I have no idea. Maybe a delicious delicacy in the waters? Or maybe simply a need to commune on the beach or the hope of catching a glimpse of the Artemis II spacecraft on its way to splashdown?

Cormorant Convention

They ride the waves

like pepper sprinkled on avocado

bobbing in the salty sea

They’ve arrived for the convention

making their way to the shore

waddling, bird by bird

to join the others

gathered

maybe to witness history

the splashdown of Artemis II

into the nearby sea

@kd0602

By the Bird

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I’m gulping in the beach walks this week, taking advantage of the warm weather and the low tides and attempting to counter balance the intensity of parent-conference week.

Shore birds are regular beach goers too. From the most common seagulls, those pesky scavengers who make a practice of poking their beaks into any beach bags left unattended and then chasing one another around, squawking to high volume, trying to abscond with the treasure, to infrequent sightings of great blue herons, tall and stately cousins to the snowy egrets that I delight in photographing.

In the last few days it has been cormorants that I keep seeing on the beach. I don’t think they are technically shore birds, I more commonly see them flying over the beach or sunning themselves on piers or in lagoons. They are described as strong swimmers and they have these big, awkward webbed feet that are definitely not ideal for walks on the beach!

I even spied one flying in the fog on Monday. They have a distinctive flying style, flapping their wings much more quickly than other birds. It makes them seem like they are in a big hurry and trying to catch up.

I find myself wondering if these cormorant sighting are related to the weird weather, the high heat, the lack of winter… Are they confused, lost, having trouble finding their usual food?

Clearly I have some research to do! But for now, I will enjoy watching these distinctive birds and appreciating their unique characteristics. And I can never take enough photos!

What is piquing your interest these days?

For the Birds: SOL24 Day 3

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In spite of the weather app’s optimism, intermittent rain has continued today. As we headed out for our daily walk with me wearing my comfy puffer jacket, I grabbed my raincoat–just in case. I love to walk on the beach, but this weekend the tides are not feeling like cooperating and in these parts if the tide is not low enough, there is not enough beach to walk on. So for today, after a bit of negotiating, we decided to walk at the local lagoon.

On our drive over the windshield was spritzed a couple of times, making me think I would be exchanging my puffer for the rain jacket. The clouds were gathering gray as we parked so I decided to play it safe and slipped into the raincoat, strapped my camera around my neck, set my watch for workout mode, and headed off.

It was the cormorants who caught my attention first. While they are residents of our coast, we don’t often see them congregate. I stood for a minute watching one with wings spread wide, drying (or maybe trying to dry) before the raindrops fell. Just then a head popped out of the water–a cormorant had been feeding and popped up just in time for me to watch!

Mist turned to raindrops. I tucked my camera into my jacket and pulled up my hood. Water droplets speckled my sunglasses, but the birds seemed unbothered. In the distance we watched terns gather and then lift off, almost as one, loudly announcing their travel. Buffleheads floated, egrets stood elegantly in the shallows, but it was the great gray heron that caught my attention.

Geoff noticed it in the distance first, noticing its size and wondering if it was a pelican before we were close enough to determine. It seemed unlikely since pelicans seldom hang out solo in the lagoon. A closer look revealed the distinctive characteristics of the heron.

From some angles they remind me of little old men…and then they stretch their long graceful necks and their classic profile is revealed. We got to watch this one take flight and admire the large wingspan as it crossed the river mouth. What a treat! It was definitely worth braving the raindrops to enjoy the birds today!

Cormorant: NPM22 Day 25

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I love science! I think in another life I must have been a scientist. Questions are always my entry point–so today’s #verselove prompt was perfect. Linda at Ethical ELA listed steps in the scientific method and then encouraged us to use all or part of them to craft a poem for today. Yesterday as I walked on the beach, I saw a cormorant in an unusual place…on the beach. In the past, cormorants on the beach have signaled illness for the bird, so I was concerned when I saw this one. I turned my cormorant sighting into fodder for my scientific method poem today.

Cormorant

I see you sitting on the beach

alone, on the sand

are you lost? are you ill?

Most days you fly against the horizon

like a jet plane, pointed due north

wings in constant motion

Today you are still

feathers like midnight

eyes like stars

unperturbed by my approach

Is it avian flu?

Bird dementia?

Or just a relaxing day on the beach?

Relief pulsed through my veins

when I saw you later

floating in the surf

looking for a snack

before blasting back into the sky

continuing your coastal journey

Thanks for stopping by

and posing

for a portrait

@kd0602

SOLC Day 12: A Break in the Rain

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I’m fighting some kind of upper respiratory infection and the laryngitis that always seems to come with it. Luckily, I was able to work from home today (obviously not a teaching day for me!) and not even have to deal with commuting on a rare rainy day in southern California.

So I laid low, kept quiet, and got quite a bit of work done as the rain pattered its soothing rhythm on the roof tiles.

So when the light changed in my house this afternoon and I realized the sky had brightened and there was a break in the rain, I checked the weather app and then headed out to the beach for a much needed walk.

Sometimes I feel like I am solar powered, energized by blue skies and sunshine and depleted by days that are pervasively gray. I could feel my energy levels rise as I headed from the parking lot down to the shore. It felt so good to get outside in the fresh air. In spite of the rain, it wasn’t cold out…the conditions were perfect for a walk.

I love that the beach always surprises me. There were people like me, in jackets and tennies walking along the shore. There were those in jackets and bare feet, walking in the water or throwing rocks into the surf. There were the teenagers in bikinis, seemingly not experiencing the chill of water in the 50’s and air temps in the 60’s. And always, always, there are the surfers. Most wear wetsuits year round…and nothing ever seems to keep them out of the water.

And today’s treat was the cormorant. I’m always on the lookout for seabirds–seagulls are usual, but it’s tough to see seabirds close enough to photograph. I saw from a distance that there was a bird sitting on the tide pool outcropping. I had my camera ready and crept as close as I could without drenching my shoes or scaring the bird. I click and click, watching as the bird gets ready to launch. And I catch that shot…just at lift off!

Sometimes a break in the rain is just what you need.