The apparent Neotropic Cormorant seen briefly in early August has been at
Violette's Lock, Montgomery Co. MD, the past few days. I was finally able to get
some bad video grabs at several hundred yards range.
http://odolep.com/midatlantic%20birds/corm/Comrorant.htm
I don't know if the video grabs can rule out a hybrid. I would appreciate any
comments. The nearest record that I know of is an adult at Pt. Pelee,
Ontario, May 2005, about 330 miles to the NW.
I saw the bird yesterday 2-3PM and today 4-5PM. It perches with Double-crests
but usually goes off by itself to feed for long periods. Twice I have seen it
fly upriver, out of sight, past Seneca. Usually it is on snags near the VA
shore or in the middle of the river at the head of the rapids. Tonight it was on
a rock in the rapids a few hundred yards downstream, viewed by walking
upstream a bit from the lock. I think that most of the time when it is out of sight
it is actually nearby, feeding in the rapids. There are some snags along the
MD, shore, and if it ever deigned to use them, good photos would be easy to get!
A White-winged Scoter was also there this evening, and a flock of 35 Common
Terns blitzed through in the rain yesterday.
Dave Czaplak |