Cormorant's Flight

Have you been told by a parent or teacher "don't presume"?   Well I made a mistake of presuming when it came to Cormorants and how they take off from the water. I don't know why but I put the Cormorants in the diving bird category and thought that like most diving ducks and grebes, the Cormorants "ran" on water to get airborne! Well I took a series of photos that shows a Cormorant getting airborne and guess what... They don't run on water... they hop!

A Cormorant starting his flight from a standstill in the water... he spreads his wings and with a giant powerful flap and kick of his webbed feet, he lifts himself out of the water just enough to bring both his feet out of the water . His feet clears the water in this hopping motion... so that he can dig it back in and push off the water again with another powerful flap of his wings, he surges forward to repeat the hop.

Maximum use of his big wings to lift him out of the water as he pushes off with his webbed feet... again, he clears the water enough to bring both his feet in front of him in another hopping motion.

The HOP! This is the combination that will propel this big bird forward. Wings pumping, both feet coming forward at the same time.  His big webbed feet will push down on the surface of the water... which will sling his body forward, much like bouncing off a trampoline.

As he projects forward, he works his wings to the max and at the same time gathers his feet under for another push off.

  

He propels forward again as he gains speed.

His wings help pick his body up into a semi glide... with speed and one more hopping maneuver, the cormorant is about to get airborne.

Wings perfect, legs under pushing off one more time with his big webbed feet, the Cormorant is projected forward to start his flight.

He is up and flying!!

With his wings at the perfect angle and getting a lift, he glides forward...

Nice big pump of his big wings as he gains height and speed.

As he brings his wings in close to his body right before they fan out to pump the air that will lift him and give him more speed... he appears to glide by...

A few more pumps of the wing, the Cormorant gains more speed and for an instant... the fingers of his primary wing feather dips in the water as he flies by leaving a thin line on the water's glassy surface. Such a beautiful sight to see. Soon he is out of camera range. It's time for me to go too.

Have a hopping good day everyone.