The Double-crested Cormorant

I haven't actually done a head count to see if there are more ducks or more double-crested cormorants on the San Antonio River, but my impression is there are a few more cormorants than ducks. There are definitely a lot of both.

Cormorants swim very low in the water, usually with their backs just barely above the waterline. They primarily eat fish and can swim for long distances underwater to catch them without coming up for air. Cormorants actually spend most of their time, though, standing on top of weir dams and rocks. They can stand almost completely still for long periods of time, frequently with one leg raised.

On my walk this past Friday, December 16, there were five cormorants lined up along the top of one of the weir dams, all five with there bodies facing north into the wind. There were three larger ones in one group and two smaller ones in another group (with a little sandpiper in between):

Other than the ripples on the surface of the water, the only thing that changes position from one photo to the next is there head positions. They were putting on quite a show of synchronized head movements, but it struck me as quite funny that they couldn't quite get the synchronization coordinated. One cormorant was always out of synch with the others:

The closest of the smaller two had turned its head briefly to glance over to see what I was doing. So, to conclude the series, it gets its own cameo close-up: