Sunday, July 3, 2011

Brandt's cormorants ~ 07/03/11 ~ Coast Guard Pier


With the Coast Guard Pier being closed to the public from mid-February to about 2 weeks ago, the cormorants were able to nest very close to the breakwater fence without being disturbed. This was the first time I've been out to see them this year and captured decent close shots. The big drawback to them being so close is that they stink and there were a ton of flies. Some of the young are indeed bigger than the adults. Interesting to note, the cormorants shared the rocks with about an equal mix of a handful of brown pelicans and a handful of sea lions. I've been loosely watching how these animals seasonally trade places as king of the rocks (click here and here for past posts). Of course, it could have simply been the time of day where the few sea lions remaining were out swimming.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

why was the pier closed? is it always closed that time?

Unknown said...

nevermind, i just read another one of your blogs where the question was addressed. closed for repairs, my mistake

Katie (Nature ID) said...

Keith, it's a funny thing... I was just over there a few days ago for the first time in a long time. The pier itself is open during "business" hours, but they've erected a new fence barrier at the very end. The result being you can't get very close to the cormorants or sea lions anymore. I have no way of knowing if it's a permanent structure or not. There are signs up indicating loose fishing lines and sea lions don't mix.

Unknown said...

so the end part isn't open in business hours i take it?

Katie (Nature ID) said...

Nope, the fence keeps people back about 15 ft. from the where I took these photos. Right now, there are mostly young sea lions with a scattering of Brandt's on the rocks.

Unknown said...

thanks for the info