G'day,
Woorim is at the southeast corner of Bribie Island, some 70km north of
Brisbane, and overlooks the northern part of Moreton Bay towards Moreton
Island. Pied Cormorants are common in these parts; in fact, they are
such a common sight that a birdwatcher could be forgiven for giving them
just a glance whilst searching for more interesting seabirds (like NZ
Storm Petrel!)
Today, close to Woorim, a Pied Cormorant was fishing just offshore - and
it was fascinating to watch. The cormorant would dive and immediately
afterwards an explosion of small fish would erupt from the water close
to where the cormorant presumably then was. A few seconds later there
would be a larger explosion of small fish together with the surfacing
cormorant, and as the cormorant surfaced it would attempt to catch the
"flying" fish. It was pretty good at it too, with a success rate of
about 2 in 3, and sometimes the fish were caught some 10-15 cm above the
surface of the water.
At no time did the cormorant surface with an already-captured fish so I
assume that the cormorant was diving below the fish in order to force
them up (and out) so that it could pick them off. Great fun to watch
unless you are a small fish.
Cheers - Trevor Ford.
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