Evans’ Rag

Vol 1 Issue 36

A neighbor’s tree dropped into the lake Monday late and was quickly discovered by one of our resident cormorants the following morning.

I woke to the fatal thump in the night. The tree was a good shading fellow. Though the cormorant was happy finding a new perch for fishing.

Cormorants are easy enough to identify at a distance. Dark feathers with longer necks than ducks, but what really gives them away is their art of deep diving, disappearing for minutes at a time then resurfacing a ways from where they were.

We used to only see them early April, flying in from South America on their jaunts north to the Arctic. Long distance travelers, they’ve always fascinated me. Last several seasons though, it seems a handful have taken up residence here. They like to hang out on low-lying tree branches, air drying their wings between dives.

Cormorants are hot shot fliers.

When all one needs to do is look out a window to watch the wildlife, it’s a wonder anyone can get work done. Then there’s Tolkien—who else writes about intelligent trees? Ents were Tolkien’s gift to fantasy writing.