A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall, on a Cormorant…

Tagged ,
For a few weeks it looked as if we might have a dry summer to rival last year’s. But then the skies opened and there have now been several days of rain, sometimes torrential downpours for hours on end.

I like “weather” – when the elements of nature flex power. So, at the height of a downpour on Monday, I was enticed by Mother Nature to visit her world at the pond. I hemmed and hawed about bringing the camera in the rain. I knew I’d be drenched no matter how I dressed. I wasn’t sure I wanted to risk the camera getting soaked. I started out the door and walked across the driveway without it, and then, as if by an undeniable instinct, turned back for the camera. I put it under my jacket, promising myself to only take it out for a one in a million shot…

I noticed something floating in the water at the far end. At first I thought it was a duck – not a specific kind necessarily, just a yellow beaked duck. To support the duck idea, was its seeming delight in the water – the water above it and below it and splashing all around it.

But my theory switched to identifying it as perhaps a heron, a regular heron, not a great blue, when I got too close and it took off for the other side of the pond.

(Above is the one in a million shot…)

I share this obstructed view (above) to help any of you identify the bird, perhaps by its wing feathers. Click on any of these photos to enlarge. Use your back arrow to return to the post.

As I looked at the photos after uploading them, I could see that this bird has a distinct hook at the end of its beak (or “bill”), leading me to think it must be a cormorant. In fact, it might be a double-crested cormorant.
And as cormorants do, this bird would dive and then resurface, as it is below.

All in all, it was a remarkable forty minutes in the rain, not just for the photos, but for the grounding of my spirit, which occurs whenever I partake in strong weather.

Here is a photo of berries in the rain.
And here am I (photo courtesy of my daughter and her Canon PowerShot) returning with the treasures of my walk hidden, and not quite as drenched as I,  while held close to me and beneath my jacket. My walking shoes were filled with rain, my jeans were soaked through, and rain had made its way through my jacket – but I couldn’t have been more content.

2 thoughts on “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall, on a Cormorant…”

  1. Mary,I saw the cormorant and also photographed it while it was fishing. Having spent a lot of time observing cormorants on \”The River\” in Orleans, I immediatly knew what it was. My photos, however, were taken from my deck as I do not have the frontier spirit to venture off in the rain.Bruce

    Like

    Reply

  2. Hi Bruce, Thanks for visiting my site and commenting on the cormorant – and confirming that that's what it is! Please try a venture in the rain! It's so wonderful and invigorating on a summer day – really living! I guarantee you'll love it!(It's only water!)Mary

    Like

    Reply

Leave a reply to Mary Cancel reply