The Brandt's Cormorants of Santa Cruz

Every year, Brandt's Cormorants nest along a rocky portion of the cliffs at Natural Bridges State Beach in Santa Cruz, California and I love to visit not only to photograph, but to simply watch them go about their lives, building nests and raising their young.  This area is maintained by local conservation groups who remove the invasive ice plant, allowing enough space for the birds to build their annual rookery.

Yesterday I dropped by and they are busy preparing for a new batch of babies, mating and gathering nesting material.  Males were displaying their beautiful, blue iridescent necks, an area called a "gular pouch", while females were arranging the nest and bickering with their neighbors.

Many people walk or jog on by this spot without noticing the activity below. I did have one young lady visiting from the east coast stop to ask me what kind of birds they were and I got into a really nice conversation with her.  I told her a little about the birds and their behavior and she was looking forward to telling her mother who is an avid birder.  This is one of the aspects I enjoy of wildlife photography.  Sharing our love and knowledge of the wildlife we photograph and hopefully inspiring others to get more involved in the natural world around them.

Here is a short clip I took yesterday.

Saving the Albatross

I came across this heart wrenching video clip while conducting an on-line search for information pertaining to saving the albatross. I have been blessed in my travels to have seen both the beautiful Black-browed Albatross with their amazing eyes and the Wandering Albatross, with the largest wingspan of any bird on the planet! Seeing them wild and free as they effortlessly soar over the oceans is a sight to behold and the idea of them suffering due to our complete disregard for the planet makes me both sad and angry.

Both of these spectacular birds along with the many other species of albatross are in dire danger due commercial long line fishing techniques whereby they get caught up in or ingest the hooks and ultimately drown. But even more sickening to me is and the amount of plastic and garbage dumped into our oceans which they consume and ultimately die a long, slow, painful death. This applies to both adult albatross and their young. It brought tears to my eyes and an absolute feeling of helplessness and shame as I too am a consumer of plastic goods. It is definitely something to think about as far as how we go about our daily lives, from the items we purchase to how we depose of our waste.

If you would like to learn more and help in a variety of ways, visit here:
http://albatrosscoalition.org/