Cormorants Ashbridges Bay

Niloc · **on:** June 02, 2009, 03:06:45 PM

I witnessed the strangest thing today, at about 1:00pm the sky above Ashbridges Bay was darkened with a fly by of what seemed like the the entire Cormorant Colony from the Leslie Spit, it was really amazing thousands of these birds in lines as long as 200 just flew East...unfortunetley they were right in the sun so I could not really get any pics...was very strange....

mr.sharp-photo · **Reply #1 on:** June 02, 2009, 05:25:32 PM

Quote from: "Niloc"

I witnessed the strangest thing today, at about 1:00pm the sky above Ashbridges Bay was darkened with a fly by of what seemed like the the entire Cormorant Colony from the Leslie Spit, it was really amazing thousands of these birds in lines as long as 200 just flew East...unfortunetley they were right in the sun so I could not really get any pics...was very strange....

hopefully they're leaving for good?

Jimbo · **Reply #2 on:** June 02, 2009, 06:08:49 PM

Niloc: They must have heard about the Big Cormorant Cull and are "Gettin out of Dodge" while the gettin is good.

Niloc · **Reply #3 on:** June 02, 2009, 06:25:07 PM

I hope that is not the case, I have no problem with the Cormorants.

norman · **Reply #4 on:** June 02, 2009, 07:52:25 PM

How can "bird-people" actually hate a species of birds? I often have longish reveries about what large urban centres' checklists would look like if there were no house sparrows, starlings and pigeons ... cavity-nesters like tree swallows and red-headed woodpeckers, to name but two (I watched a pair of red-headeds excavate a nursery in an old dying oak at Kew Gardens about 20 years ago -- it took over a week, and all the while, a small flock of starlings sat in the upper branches, watching and waiting -- when the cavity was nearly finished, the starlings chased them off and took over. I can't say I was indifferent about this exploitation of a native species -- in fact, I watched with sheer revulsion as the opportunistic Eurasians evicted the picids; if I could've intervened, I would've ran them out of town, so I sort-of understand this cormorant thing, and I'm as guilty as anyone re "The Golden Age."), but evolution has endowed these starlings with heaps of aggressive behaviour, and that's how it goes.

And so it is with the cormorant "problem." I just haven't done the leg-work on the subject to opine much more than this: the rationalizations used by MRTCA and the Anglers and Hunters bunch promoting the kill ("cull," if you're a PR rep) sound, well, fishy ... I'll get going on this, and I urge others who can leave their emotions in a hatbox on the bookshelf to comment. The "guano killing precious vegetation" argument? Fishy. The impact on, say, green herons reproductive success is moot, as far as I know at this point. Are some folks still on about them eating all "our" fish?

Some objective comments would be most enlightening ...

Sorry, Andreas, but if you're annoyed about this being in the "sightings" section, please move it to General Discussions, where we can see what readers have to say about all this.

norman · **Reply #5 on:** June 02, 2009, 07:56:22 PM

Title was too long: "Cormorants, 'Culls,' and The Golden Age of Anthropomorphism." That's all.

mr.sharp-photo · **Reply #6 on:** June 03, 2009, 10:01:42 AM

Norman,
from what i've read and seen, the cormorant seems like a destructive species of bird.
i guess the evidence can be seen at leslie spit, where there are zero trees on one of the peninsulas.
now we're seeing them on the Don and at the brickworks.

the worry is they are driving out other native species while killing vegetation that birds need. so a double whammy of sorts.

Niloc · **Reply #7 on:** June 03, 2009, 10:39:15 AM

There is a fine balance in nature, sure if you Culled all the Cormorants you would eliminate that problem but some other species would take over and then what would you do Cull that bird species out too, mother nature is stronger than mankind in any form nature has a way of balancing things out, as far as destroying trees how ridiculous is that how man thousands of acres has mankind destroyed over the entire planet and still continue to destroy, the percentage of area the Cormorants inhabit on the spit is a small percentage of the total area, plus the Cormorants only nest where they are not bothered, the managers of the Spit are aggressively encouraging human movement throughout the Spit in areas other than where the Cormorants have designated nesting areas...in the end I beleive nature will balance things out their is a much larger picture than just culling the Cormorants and for us humans to choose what species of bird is the most beautiful or worthy of living is just not fair, as for Cormorants being seen in other areas of Toronto and North well they are doing what all species do seeking food, places where they would usualy fish have been destroyed by man and our pollution so they are seeking out places where fish are abundant, I think we should be more concerned with observing the Cormorant and making sure they nest in designated areas ....that is something we can control remember this is a species that mankind almost killed off for some other small minded reason the use of DDT again in that instant the big picture was not fully looked at....interestingly in Maine there is another problem with Bald Eagles killing all kinds of birds and their eggs I suppose if it was up to some people they would cull the Bald Eagles too...read this it sheds an interesting light on Cormorants...and note that the same minded people refer to the Bald Eagles as Thugs imagine that....

http://www.koaa.com/aaaaaa_down_to_eart ... rare-birds

egret · **Reply #8 on:** June 03, 2009, 10:53:12 AM

did not know they
are destructive

I was down to N. Falls
Monday
and saw many of them
on the trees in water

near Burlington guess it was

Egret

Niloc · **Reply #9 on:** June 03, 2009, 10:58:47 AM

They are only destructive where they nest as their waste tends to kill the trees they inhabit also the way they construct theirs nests rips the vegatation off the trees however if you control where they nest then half the problem is defeated which is what they are trying to do at the Spit...If they overpopulate I beleive nature will balance that out not human intervention as we were responsible for almost killing them off including many other species on this planet ie the Bald Eagle,Wolves and many more!

BirderBill · **Reply #10 on:** June 03, 2009, 02:45:16 PM

Personally, I believe that "Humans" are the most destructive species on the planet. Please don't cull ME though!
My point is that humans have interfered in the natural predator/prey balance, throwing everything off kilter. AS humans learn more, and accept their responsibility to live WITHIN nature, rather than controlling it, I believe that more balance may be restored.
In certain cases, such as when huge number of beavers were trapped to the point of near-extinction, humans MAY eventually see a problem, and react to it. Sometimes, the reaction/solution is as bad as the original problem: going from endangered population to problematic numbers.
Unfortunately, once man puts "his" hand to something, it is very difficult to lay off, without continuing to dabble and tweak in adjustment, until a more stable balance is achieved.
I believe this is what is being suggested by the "cull".. another tweak by humans in their efforts to "let nature take its course".

I appreciate the sentiments of everyone here. Thank you for lettig me add my own.

BB

Niloc · **Reply #11 on:** June 03, 2009, 02:49:50 PM

BB I totally agree well said!

BIGFRANK · **Reply #12 on:** June 03, 2009, 04:10:36 PM

From here on but particularily in August,we have seen the same numbers of Cormorants moving off The Spit to past Bluffers Park. Watching from above at Rosetta McClain Gardens,I know one day Leon and I counted between 15000 and 20000 go by. Waves and waves of them,sometimes stretching from The Spit all the way out of sight to Bluffers Park.Its amazing. We have often viewed feeding frenzies,where hundreds/thousands land at once(with a huge number of gulls) and eat. 10 minutes later they are all off and gone and Ud never know they were there.

Niloc · **Reply #13 on:** June 03, 2009, 04:52:32 PM

Thanks BigFrank that's the info I was looking for, since moving down to Lesliville in Toronto I am closer to the Lakeshore and have been able to observe the Cormorants more now, it is truly beautiful and amazing to see this site right here in Toronto such mass numbers moving together, will have to visit Rosetta MG I was there before but it was winter I hear it has quite the collection of birds at different times...Any Idea why they would move in such large numbers and go so far or is it just that the fish are more abundant East from the spit..

BIGFRANK · **Reply #14 on:** June 03, 2009, 08:10:44 PM

I suspect its purely to do with food source.

Please join me at Rosetta,its beautiful though not terribly birdy now that migration is over. August brings more birds and of course all of the fall I invite you and everyone else to join me for fall Raptor Migration.