Double Crested Cormorant Basking in the sun

After bathing the Double Crested Cormorants sun with their wings outstretched to dry.

Double Crested Cormorant Bathing

Click to enlarge.

Double Crested Cormorant

Well, I have finished with the fall colors photographs I took through last week. I went back to the Smokies on Wednesday morning so I am sure I will sharing more fall colors photos when we return from vacation. But for now we are headed south in the morning. I decided I should go through all the photographs I took in June while we were in Florida. So I did, while we are in St Pete Beach you will be viewing photos from our June trip to St Pete.

When I went to the Florida Birding Festival in April 2008 everybody there got excited when they saw a speck in the distance they said were Cormorants. There was always great discussions about how to tell the difference in a Double Crested and a Great.

So in June when we saw these up close, I got excited too. (Trained well!!)

I know it has to be a Double Crested, my reference book says Great Cormorant are not in Florida.

We were on a sunset cruise when I took these. These were taken right before I took the manatee photo I posted in June. The manatee photo was not that great. Looked like that monster Ireland claims to have in their lake.

Maybe this trip I will get some more of these birds. Love getting excited about my photography.