Double-crested Cormorant: Nature, Worth a Look! #featheredfriends

Shortly after arriving in Ft Meyers Florida, we met Maria, the owner of the house we would be staying at for the next several weeks. After a few minutes of walking through the house and being given the general tour, Maria mentioned the birds that visited her on a daily basis. With the home being right on a small lake, right out the back door did look like a bird sanctuary.
After settling in and getting a good night's sleep, the morning arrived in a flash.
With my coffee in hand I quietly went outside to enjoy the peacefulness of a gorgeous Florida morning.
Within a few minutes I noticed something moving in the tree in the yard.
Well, this is the guy I ran into.

At the time I had no idea what kind of bird I was photographing.
He hung out long enough for me to snap off a couple of pictures.
As he flew away, I hoped he would return for another photo shoot.

Over the last couple of days, not only did he return, he placed himself front and center. It was like he knew he had the attention of the camera's eye.

I was able to get some great pictures, and after some research, I realized I was watching the Double-crested Cormorant.

Double-crested Cormorants float low on the surface of the water and dive to catch small fish. Their feathers don't have the same oils on them as duck feathers, therefor their feathers absorb some water, making them not as buoyant. They catch fish by diving from the surface. The Double-crested Cormorant chases its prey under water and seizes it with its hooked bill.

This bird measures 80–95cm from the tip of the beak to the end of the tail, and the average weight is 2.5kg.

Take a look at the neck of this Cormorant. The neck is very slender.

The Double-crested Cormorant can dive to depths of 75 meters/245 feet.
These magnificent birds can fly without rest from the Austrian Danube to the Italian Adriatic. The total distance of this trip is about 600 km , and they have been recorded making this trip in 12 hours of continuous flying.

While watching this bird dive for food, I was amazed at how long he could stay submerged. On one of his dives I clocked how long he was under water for, a minute and 35 seconds later he broke the surface, and was at least 200 feet away from where he started his dive.

Being that the Double-crested Cormorant's feathers absorb water, they will constantly dry themselves by extending and fluttering their wings.

In this picture you can see that the feathers are both black and gray.

Doing a little research on the Double-crested Cormorant, I learned that they are somewhat common to this area. For a guy from the mountains of Upstate New York, they are anything but common.
Watching the Double-crested Cormorant do his thing, right out the back door of where we are staying. has been a ball.
Nature never ceases to amaze me!👍👍

This last picture comes with a cool little story. While watching one particular dive of the Double-crested Cormorant, he came up with a pretty good size fish. When I first caught a glimpse of him, I was not sure what I was looking at. The only thing out of the water was his neck and half of a fish, the other half was already engulfed by the bird.
Before I could grab the camera he had swallowed his meal.
As he slowly paddled away I was able to snap off a picture of him from behind.
You can see that his neck is now swollen with fish he had caught.