Double-crested cormorant turns his head around to give me a stare-down. Yosemite Lake, Stockton CA.
Cormorant at Lake Yosemite, Stockton CA.
A dark body stealthily swims through a lake with only a snakelike head poking above the surface. What may sound like the Loch Ness monster is actually an Anhinga, swimming underwater and stabbing fish with its daggerlike bill. After every dip, it strikes a regal pose on the edges of shallow lakes and ponds, with its silvery wings outstretched and head held high to dry its waterlogged feathers. Once dry, it takes to the sky, soaring high on thermals stretched out like a cross. Pickney Island NWR, South Carolina.
The blue eye ring indicates a male in breeding plummage. Pickney Island NWR, South Carolina.