These Guys Need A Lot Of Runway
This past week I was watching a cormorant fishing in the salt marsh. Two or three times he took off to go fish a bit farther down, and each time it took him longer to get started. He could barely get airborne. I guess once they get good and wet they also get heavier which means it takes a while to get going.
Plus…they have to do that hop, skip, and jump technique before they can even think about taking flight. That’s where all the extra required runway comes in handy.
Phil Lanoue Photography 
you have such a wonderful eye for beauty especially as you capture birds in their habitat
Well I appreciate the kind words very much and I’m happy you enjoy seeing the wildlife as they go about their lives. Thank you!
‘Definitely needs more runway, poor guy – or maybe he needs to practice hopping and skipping on water more 🙂
These guys can be fun to watch both the fishing and the take offs. I like to watch the anhingas fish more because they take longer to eat the fish which gives me more of an opportunity to get photos. 🙂
Lol!
I can easily imagine you losing track of time when you’re observing these guys.
That’s why we commonly see them standing around, drying out their wings. First time I ever saw that was on a visit to Florida. Cracked me up because my first thought was that they were drying out their armpits. That was back in the day when I had to look up nearly every bird I encountered in order to identify it. Who knew bird watching could be such fun?
It is fun finding out cool new stuff about birds. I think the first time I really saw the dry off outstretched wings routine was by an anhinga. Those are very similar to the cormorants in fishing and drying styles but the anhingas are in a class by themselves.
He looks like he’s having a bit of trouble there.
I think it’s just part of their normal day to take a half an hour to take off. 🙂
No wonder they need to wait around, wings outstretched, drying themselves!
Yes, I’m always surprised when I see a fully wet one take off right out of the water skipping the dry off period.
Of course I’ve seen an alligator snap at a cormorant or anhinga and then I can certainly understand the quick take off wet or not!
Yes, we have a lot of cormorants here too, and it always amuses me to see how they hardly manage to get clear of the water, however hard they flap their wings. I bet the Great Blue and the Egret have a good laugh too. 🙂
Oh I’m sure the great blues and egrets laugh at the cormorants. But what was even more funny yet… the other day two mute swans bewilderingly showed up in the marsh. Those birds seems to take forever to get those huge bodies airborne. We also have swans walking around our neighborhood fairly often. (walking I presume because it’s easier then trying to take off) 🙂
😄