how many D-C Cormorants make a flotilla?

A big flock -- a flotilla really -- of tens of dozens of Double-crested Cormorants came barreling into Weesuck Creek this morning accompanied by a couple of dozen screeching Ring-billed Gulls and numbers of Royal Terns. By the time I noticed them, most of the cormorants were at the mouth of the creek directly off our shore where, to avoid being carried out by the outgoing tide, they performed an overlapping series of leap-frog maneuvers with bunches of birds flying up from behind and landing in front. This sort of cartwheel continued for at least a quarter of an hour until the entire flock up and left.

What were they doing? I would guess that they had followed or chased a school of fish into the creek and were forcing them to bunch up, making them easier bait -- not only for the cormorants but also for the gulls and terns.

Outside of this, the weather was warm and windless -- not conducive to migration. There was one big, barrel-chested accipiter that looked big enough to be a Goshawk but probably was just a female Cooper's Hawk; the Blue Jays managed to chase it away. One or two thrushes (first of the season for me) showed up back of the house and in a neighbor's backyard (where she photographed it); probably both Hermit Thrushes but neither bird's tail was visible.

There are still some Blue Asters in bloom as well as small and medium White Asters. The Seaside Goldenrod has been largely finished off by rains, cold weather, etc. 

Eric Salzman