Tag Archives: Pelagic Cormorants

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Pelagic Cormorants attache their nests to bluff faces, using their own guano as glue. Rozanne Rapozo recently photographed several nests.

Michael Reinhart found Pigeon Guillemots. They use openings in rocks for their hidden nests, much safer than the Pelagic Cormorant nests. This is a rather rare photo of a chick being fed.

Here are two Pigeon Guillemots on the water. It looks like they are talking to each other. Note the orange-red mouth!

Pelagic Cormorants are mostly silent, but Pigeon Guillemots have a whistling call that  you can hear on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology at this link: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Pigeon_Guillemot/sounds

Thanks to Rozanne and Michael for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

It was very foggy this morning, with the sun finally breaking through mid-afternoon, a lovely cool day on the Mendonoma Coast!

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Michael Reinhart checked the bluffs on The Sea Ranch and found several Pelagic Cormorants paired up and already building nests. This is very early, experts agree.

Here is a cormorant with nesting materials in its mouth.

And here is a Pelagic Cormorant in flight. Beautiful, don't you think? The white patch on this seabird's flank shows it is in breeding plumage.

Pelagic Cormorants are mostly silent but they do make some sounds, including groans, when breeding. You can listen here, a link to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Pelagic_Cormorant/sounds

Thanks to Mike for allowing me to share his photos with you here.

Today the weather story is WIND! It's sunny but the wind is howling. It's no fun to be out on the bluffs today!

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Pelagic Cormorants, seabirds, nest on bluff faces on the Mendonoma Coast. Karen Wilkinson photographed a pair at their nest, and when she looked at her photo on her computer, she found two tiny chicks.

You can see an eggshell (or possibly an unhatched egg!) and two chicks that look as if they just hatched! The father Pelagic Cormorant is leaving the nest in Karen's photo. He brings food back to his mate and now for his offspring. It's quite magical to watch these nests. They are very quiet and it's almost mystical to be in the moment and be quiet too.

Thanks to Karen for allowing me to share her photo with you here.

Another hot day, but it feels like it is breaking. Yep, the weather is changing again, maybe even some rain for the weekend.

Spring doesn't know...

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Pelagic Cormorants nest on rocky bluff faces. There is a colony at The Sea Ranch and another at the north end of Hearn Gulch. Craig Tooley photographed a nest full of hatchlings off TSR.

Pelagic Cormorant nest with hatchlings by Craig Tooley

Rick and I didn't know Pelagic Cormorants were nesting at Hearn Gulch but when we hiked there recently we saw these black seabirds coming and going. If you look closely you can see two Pelagic Cormorants on the rock face. Other nests were obviously on the bluff facing west as the birds were flying to and fro.

Pelagic Cormorant nest at Hearn Gulch by Jeanne Jackson (Large)

Yes, it's too bad I don't have Craig Tooley's most excellent camera lens! To find Hearn Gulch, a fairly new public access gem, park at mile marker 10.0 just north of Iversen Road in Mendocino County. To learn more about new accesses, visit the Redwood Coast Land Conservancy website at: www.rc-lc.org

Thanks to Craig for allowing me to share his photo with you here. To see much more of Craig's nature photography, here is his link: www.ruffimage.com

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On a quiet, secluded bluff face on The Sea Ranch there is a colony of nesting Pelagic Cormorants. With nests attached to the steep sides of the bluff, the colony is very special to see. Craig Tooley recently witnessed the parents exchanging places, giving him a chance to see and photograph the babies in the nest.

These shy seabirds attach their nests of grass, twigs and seaweed to the bluff face with their own guano. They dive from the surface of the water for fish, which they chase down underwater.

I thank Craig for allowing me to share his photo with you here. It's something not all of us would be able to see for ourselves.

To see much more of Craig's beautiful wildlife photography, here's his website: ruffimage.com