An Unusual Sighting at Fairview Park Pond

This afternoon Whitney Redding sent me a message about a bird she saw at the small pond by the Fairview Park Marriott. She wanted to know what this sleek, hook-billed bird she saw was. She took a photo from a distance with her cell phone. At first and second glance of Whitney's photo, I knew the bird but for the life of me I couldn't figure out why it was in the little pond near the beltway.

Dan and I raced over there with our cameras. We saw the bird swimming along the edge of the pond, head down, fishing. The bird, which we have seen in great numbers in the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers and Chesapeake Bay, was a Double-crested Cormorant.

The Double-crested Cormorant likes to do two things: fish and rest. They don't have as much preening oil as other water  birds so they dry their wings after time in the water.

Their feathers get soaked and makes them slick and fast underwater.

The birds are numerous and not endangered. They can be found in freshwater and brackish, pretty much anywhere there's fish.

Thanks, Whitney, for your keen eye. There's a new bird to add to our neighborhood birding list!