Fishers of Aquatic Park: Alexander Millar generously shared photos of birds that birds that hunt Aquatic Park’s fishes. (To see larger images, right click the photo and choose “Open image in new tab.”)
Left column: Osprays and terns course, hover, and plunge down on fish from the air. Some gulls also fish this way. Cormorants dive, often quite deep, sometimes herding fish in teams. Lacking waterproofing oils, they must leave the water often to dry their feathers.
Top center and right: The relatively small snowy egret, with black bill, rouses prey by shuffling its yellow feet. The larger great egret stalks slowly and elegantly — striking suddenly with snake-like neck.
Center column below egret: Great blue herons stalk rodents on land as well as fish and invertebrates on water. Stocky black-crowned night herons snooze through the day in trees edging the park, flying out at dusk to hunt.
Right column below egret: Pelicans remind us that birds descend from dinosaurs. White pelicans, much larger than their brown cousins, are a relatively rare sight as they glide along the water, scooping fish into their throat pouches. Flocks of brown pelicans, recovered from near extinction after DDT was banned, cruise the Bay shore from early summer through fall, scanning for schools of fish. Plunging from the air, they can stun hapless prey with the impact. Inexperiences juveniles, with gray-brown heads and beaks, may hang out near the pipes that funnel fish along with Bay water.
Discover more about birds and other park life — and contribute to knowledge — with free citizen-science apps such as iNaturalist, Merlin bird ID, and eBird.
LANDSCAPES: Mile-long Aquatic Park includes three lagoons, large grassy areas, groves of trees, small marshes, and varied recreation facilities.
