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It pays to be tall, especially if you’re a fish. The height measurement I’m referring to is the distance between a fish’s top dorsal fin and the lower ventral fin. I saw a Double-crested Cormorant wrestle with, and ultimately be defeated by, a tall Bluegill midday yesterday at bright and sunny Kaysville Ponds. Two DC Cormorants rested, swam, and fished at the ponds. These two consummate fishers were decked out in their spring finery—glossy, blackish brown feathers, brilliant orange beaks and chins, and those surprising, glassy emerald green eyes. Both birds even displayed that infrequently seen plumage feature for which they’re named—the double crests on their crowns. Their crests were black and a little spiky; perhaps as breeding season advances the crests will become lighter. I concentrated on one bird that was fishing, for one purpose only--to watch until something interesting happened. After each dive, the bird surfaced and quickly scouted left and right as if it were trying to catch up on what had transpired while it was underwater. Its time above the surface was short. Each breather lasted 5 to 7 seconds according to my one-banana; two-banana method of keeping time. The cormorant came up empty-beaked twelve times. On the lucky thirteenth surfacing, that bird brought up a beak full of a fish that was so big the fish merely served to emphasize how slim and svelte the cormorant’s black head and neck are. I settled in for the show. Call that cormorant an optimist. The Bluegill was 6-7 inches long. When the cormorant tossed up the fish and caught it head first in preparation for the big gulp, the Bluegill appeared to be about three times taller from dorsal to ventral sides than the width of the cormorant’s neck. But heck, I’ve seen birds choke down big fish before; maybe the cormorant would be able to ingest the big Bluegill gut bomb…or maybe not. Call me a pessimist. Even though the fish was in perfect position, the cormorant struggled to get it down its gullet. Time and again, the bird tried to choke it down. The pale blue and iridescent nose and gills of the fish were wedged sideways into the cormorant’s beak. The soft orange fish belly was color-coordinated to the bright orange bird beak and chin. The cormorant fumbled three times and brought the fish out of the water again by grasping it and plunging that deadly looking hooked beak into the fish’s gill. Another toss lodged the Bluegill into the cormorant’s gape again. Finally, the bird fumbled the fish and dropped it, dunked its head quickly under the water for the retrieval and came up with nothing. I’d say that cormorant’s eyes were bigger than its throat, and chalk one up for tall fish. The other birds at the ponds included Mallards, Northern Shovelers, Gadwall, Ring-necked Ducks, Hooded Mergansers, Common Goldeneyes, Killdeer, Ring-billed Gulls, and American Coots, American Magpies, and Red-winged Blackbirds. To reach Kaysville Ponds, take I-15 Exit
331 and turn east. In approximately 1/2 mile, turn right on Main
Street and proceed south for 1/4 mile. Then bear right on 50 West.
Drive approximately a half mile--maybe a little more--and you'll see the ponds
on your right. They're sandwiched between 50 W. and the interstate
and they're the new home of the Utah Botannical Gardens.
Kris |