<\/p>\n
![\"double-crested-merganser-0561-ron-dudley\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/double-crested-merganser-0561-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
I was photographing birds on the pond that were far away when suddenly two Double-crested Cormorants surfaced in the water very close to me.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
![\"double-crested-cormorant-0570-ron-dudley\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/double-crested-cormorant-0570-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
There was obviously something just below the water’s surface that was causing a lot of excitement from both birds as they fought with each other over it but at first I couldn’t tell what it was.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
![\"double-crested-cormorant-0574-ron-dudley\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/double-crested-cormorant-0574-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Sometimes they were both underwater and other times just one of them. Here the bird on the left has just emerged.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
![\"double-crested-cormorant-0591-ron-dudley\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/double-crested-cormorant-0591-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
But eventually I got glimpses of a large dorsal fin so I knew the cause of all the excitement was a fish. Both cormorants had the fish in their grasp more than once\u00a0but each time they deliberately released it.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
![\"fish-0626-ron-dudley\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/fish-0626-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Several times the cormorants\u00a0swam off and left the fish behind. It was obviously stunned but\u00a0still alive as it swam very slowly at the surface with its spiny dorsal fins erected.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
![\"california-gull-0655-ron-dudley\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/california-gull-0655-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
On two separate occasions a California Gull swooped down and grabbed the fish but each time…<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
![\"california-gull-0657-ron-dudley\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/california-gull-0657-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
it released the fish almost immediately and flew away.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
![\"double-crested-cormorant-0667-ron-dudley\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/double-crested-cormorant-0667-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
A while later one of the cormorants appeared with the fish in its grasp once again but…<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
![\"double-crested-cormorant-0670-ron-dudley\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/double-crested-cormorant-0670-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
then deliberately released it without even attempting to swallow it\u00a0and swam away. This happened several times.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
![\"double-crested-cormorant-0680-ron-dudley\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/double-crested-cormorant-0680-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Eventually this cormorant took possession of the fish…<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
![\"double-crested-cormorant-0698-ron-dudley\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/double-crested-cormorant-0698-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
and for the first time that I noticed actually tried to swallow it…<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
![\"double-crested-cormorant-0705-ron-dudley\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/double-crested-cormorant-0705-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
which it did…<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
![\"double-crested-cormorant-0733-ron-dudley\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/double-crested-cormorant-0733-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
very, very quickly. It had no trouble at all getting the fish down.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It took almost 6 minutes for this little drama to\u00a0play out\u00a0and during that time I took 228\u00a0photos of the action but after studying those images and thinking about what I saw I’m still somewhat\u00a0baffled by the behavior of the cormorants and the gulls. Why didn’t one of the cormorants swallow the fish at the first opportunity? At first I thought the fish might be too large to swallow easily but when it was eventually swallowed it went down slick as a whistle and very, very\u00a0quickly so I suspect that the size of the fish wasn’t a problem (cormorants are known for their ability to swallow exceptionally large fish).<\/p>\n
I also have to wonder why the gulls grabbed and then released the fish several times. As a friend said on\u00a0Facebook “When a California Gull rejects food, you know there’s something odd going on. They aren’t exactly picky eaters”. Perhaps it was too large for the gulls to fly with but I doubt it…<\/p>\n
I suppose another possibility for both the cormorants and the gulls is that they were intimidated by those menacing-looking spines in the dorsal fins of the fish. As many\u00a0fishermen have\u00a0painfully learned the hard way\u00a0some fish species use those spines as defensive weapons.<\/p>\n
Whatever the actual reason for the behaviors this was one of those exciting times for the photographer\u00a0when the shooting goes from slow to fast and furious in a heartbeat. Whenever that happens I’m always glad I have a\u00a0huge memory card, a camera buffer that doesn’t fill quickly and a fast burst rate.<\/p>\n
Believe me, it’s\u00a0truly a\u00a0sickening feeling to press the shutter button at an important moment and have nothing happen…<\/p>\n
Ron<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Some behaviors I witness in nature remain unexplained even after much thought and review of multiple images documenting them. Such was the case three days ago at a pond near my home.<\/p>\n