This winter, a large group of Double-crested Cormorants have roosted in
a tall Cottonwood above the Sammamish River trail in Bothell. On
occasion, I have seen more than 80 birds in this one tree--the sidewalk
below is almost completely white, an obvious challenge to trail-walkers!
This evening, one bird in the group had perched on a branch really too
thin for support. When another bird made an attempted landing, the first
bird lost its footing and had to fly off to find a new perch. Of course,
the cormorant is not so agile that it can just flip around and land
anew. Instead, it must fly off some distance, make a sweeping turn
before heading back to the roost, sometimes requiring more than one
pass. When this bird finally returned and tried to grab a perch, it
irritated the current perch-holder and, so flustered, missed its target
altogether. It made another long sweep downstream and back. This time,
it found a branch that was unoccupied but so totally botched the landing
that it almost flipped upside down before heading off down the slough
once again. When it finally returned, apparently totally chagrined, it
flew off to another tree some 100 m away and landed, all by itself. It
was still there, pouting, when I finally had to board my bus.

Scott Ramos
Seattle