Brett Matlock was birding the area of the Williamsport Dam when he noticed a smaller cormorant with the expected Double-crested Cormorants. Upon noticing the white border around the throat patch and the long tail, it confirmed the bird as a
Neotropic Cormorant, a bird that's rarely found north of Texas! I got to the spot around 2:30 and saw the bird in the middle of the river among a couple dozen Double-cresteds. Soon after, the bird flew a short distance downstream and started diving to feed in the turbulent water just below the dam. Using the concrete dam wall as a blind, I managed to get a few half-decent photos of it in the persisting rain.
Eventually, it flew back up above the dam to rejoin the other cormorants. The smaller size was very noticeable. It was nice to get to see the comparison between it and the larger, immature Double-crested Cormorant that it was near.
If accepted, this bird represents the first record for Pennsylvania! More photos of the bird can be found in my
Pennsylvania Notables Album.
No comments:
Post a Comment