February 28 – My Nature Journal
February 28, 2026 Nature Journal
Double-crested Cormorants
Nannopterum auritum
Feasts Fit For Fishing Birds
The Double-crested Cormorants were extremely active on the lake today and were clearly in full fishing mode. I watched in impressed bemusement as several of the birds popped to the surface with gigantic catfish writhing in their beaks.
In several cases, the catfish were as long as the birds.
Like many fishing birds, Double-crested Cormorants swallow their food whole. Some of the fish caught were so large that I truly couldn’t see how on earth the Cormorants could possibly swallow them.
Surely, the Cormorants would choke in their attempts, or be spiked from the inside by the long, serrated spines on the catfishes’ dorsal and pectoral fines.
Plus, the Cormorants’ bodies just seemed way too small to hold the fishes they dredged up from the lake bottom; how could they possibly have room in their stomachs?
And yet, the Cormorants had no trouble at all feasting on the unfortunate catfish.
The first Cormorant I watched popped to the surface with a large catfish pierced on its beak. The catfish thrashed around with all its might but to no avail—it was well and truly caught.
The Cormorant spent a long time jockeying with the fish at the surface. Several times, it dipped the fish back in the water, then lifted it so that the gills flared in the air. I’m not sure if the Cormorant was trying to exhaust the fish, to pull its hooked beak out of the fish’s flesh, or simply trying to position it properly in anticipation of swallowing it whole.
Eventually, the Cormorant gaped its bill, ducked its head, and engulfed the catfish’s head down to the pectoral fins. Then it flipped its head up and gulped the fish down.
In truth, watching this maneuver was fairly disgusting, despite it being a normal, natural, and vital activity for the Double-crested Cormorant (and an unfortunate reality for the catfish). The bird’s throat bulged enormously as the large fish began its death slide. The doomed fish continued to thrash around even as it was being swallowed; I watched its tail flap until the tail fins finally disappeared.
The fish cleared the Double-crested Cormorant’s throat and left absolutely no sign of its passage. Perhaps the bird rode slightly lower in the water after its feast than it had before.
But otherwise, no one would ever guess that this Double-crested Cormorant was quietly digesting a catfish nearly as large as itself.
Fighting For A Fish Feast
Several of Double-crested Cormorants had terrific fishing luck today, catching sizable (if not downright impressively large) fish.
But not all the Cormorants on the lake appeared interested in DIY-ing their lunch. Some of them opted for a different strategy—stealing.
I watched a pair of Double-crested Cormorants paddle around about a hundred yards off the lake shore. One of them dove while the other looked on intently. The diving bird popped to the surface a few seconds later with a huge catfish in its bill. Immediately, the second bird advanced and launched a harassing attack.
The first Cormorant fought defense first. Dragging the poor beleaguered catfish around by its throat, the first Cormorant spun in a circle to avoid the thief. This tactic failed to discourage the lazy bird, who snapped at the successful fisher-bird, trying to get it to drop its prize.
But the Cormorant who did all the work of diving, locating, and catching hold of this huge catfish was in no mood to let some free-loading mooch steal his lunch. The bird dropped the catfish and went on the attack—an attack much more aggressive than that launched by the thieving bird.
The two birds met in a violent flurry accompanied by loud, outraged croaks, beating wings, and rapid strikes with gaping, hooked bills.
Proving that bullies are often lazy cowards, the would-be fish thief hauled feathers and came to rest some distance away. The hard-working Cormorant dove once more and surfaced with what I believe to be the same catfish clamped securely in its bill once again.
The victor wasted no time consolidating its prize.
While the vanquished Cormorant watched morosely, the first bird engulfed the catfish and swallowed it whole in just a few quick gulps.
American Wigeon
Mareca americana
The American Wigeon is another winter-time visitor to North Carolina. I’ll only have them for another few weeks, then they’ll fly hundreds of miles north to their breeding sites in Quebec and Newfoundland, Canada.
But these two Wigeons clearly decided to get a jump on things and paired up.
The male was attentive to the female the entire time I watched them dabble for vegetation. He stayed within a few feet of her, and whenever she dipped her head deeper into the water, he paused his own dabbling to keep a careful watch on the sky above them (which was a very good thing, given the presence of an adult Bald Eagle at the lake today).
The female kept watch also but it seemed an uneven balance of responsibility; he seemed to spend about twice as much time watching over the female as the she spent watching over him.
Bald Eagle
Haliaeetus leucocephalus
Once again, at least one adult Bald Eagle was at the lake today, and once again, it stayed on the complete opposite side of the lake—basically as far away as a bird could get from my vantage point and still be visible.
He soared in wide circles but—with unerring accuracy—stayed just close enough to be identified, but too far away for a good photo.
When it comes to Bald Eagles at this lake, my timing could really use some work.
Eastern Bluebird
Sialia sialis
Ruddy Duck
Oxyura jamaicensis
Hooded Merganser
Lophodytes cucullatus
Lesser Scaup
Aythya affinis
Mallard
Anas platyrhynchos
Great Blue Heron
Ardea herodias
Red-shouldered Hawk
Buteo lineatus
Pond Turtles
Family Emydidae
Leopard Slug
Limax maximus
Today’s Nature Journal Snapshot
|
Time of Day |
Early to mid-afternoon |
|
Setting |
Large lake |
|
Temperature |
55° F / 13° C |
|
Weather |
Mostly sunny, scattered clouds |
|
Humidity |
70% |
