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Welcome to the Pine River Review. Our sight is dedicated to our little homestead located along the Pine River tucked inside the Chippewa Nature Center's 1400 Acres of wild in Michigan's lower penninsula. We love to share our pictures, video, comment, and our own homespun music. Step inside our world as we celebrate this beautiful nook!


Tuesday, February 22, 2011

World Bird Wednesday XIV

Welcome to World Bird Wednesday! My mind is awash with the beautiful birds Suzanne and I saw last week in the Sarasota area of Florida. True, we're back in Michigan and digging out from the latest blizzard du jour. No problem, we have our plows and warm pictures to fortify us. Just a week ago with the help of our mentors, The English's, we took a kayak adventure out into the tidal waters between Lido Key and the mainland. I felt a little silly being part of a tour at first, but our guide turned out to be Shane, a third generation local with a biology degree. His enthusiastic manner and informative dialog were first rate and in three hours we pulled back into safe harbor with a camera full of  memories aboard.
   Among the sights were Double-crested Cormorants. The lighter the color the younger the bird. They were not spooked by our kayaks thus becoming the perfect subjects for a  photo essay.

                     Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus)



File:Cormorant fishing -Suzhou -China-6July2005.jpgFor a thousand years in China and Japan these these birds have been enlisted to harvest fish in a strange technique called Cormorant fishing. Lanterns are hung over the water from narrow, flat river boats the light of which attracts fish toward the surface. The hungry Cormorants, with rings fastened around their necks to prevent the swallowing of larger fish, are tethered to bamboo poles and allowed to dive from the sides of these crafts. The larger fish they capture are then plucked from their throats while letting the small ones pass through to nourish the bird. So the deed is done. Picture courtesy of Wikicommons. Click here for a one minute video of Cormorant fishing.



An announcement! We have put up an official site for WBW  http://worldbirdwednesday.blogspot.com/  It will archive all WBW posts. World Bird Wednesday continues to be graced each week with the best the blogosphere has to offer. This will be a showcase for the skillful writers and photographers who contribute to it.

         It's time for World Bird Wednesday XIV!

This is the home of World Bird Wednesday. A place for bird photographers from around the world to gather and share their photographs and experiences as they pursue Natures most diverse and beautiful treasurers, the birds. The Blogosphere connects like minded people from around our planet like no other technology can do. World Bird Wednesday will be open for posting at 12 noon Tuesday EST North America through noon on Thursday.



You are invited to link your blog with other bird photographers in a weekly celebration of these most diverse and intriguing of Earth's residents, the BIRDS.





                                                          

#1. Simply copy the above picture onto your W.B.W. blog entry. It contains a link for your readers to share in WBW. Or you can copy this link on to your blog page to share W.B.W.

http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com/ or http://worldbirdwednesday.blogspot.com/

#2. Come to The Pine River Review on Tuesday Noon EST through Thursday Noon and submit your blog entry with Linky.

#3. Check back in during the course of the next day and explore these excellent photoblogs!


You don't have to be a Bird Watcher to join in--just enjoy sharing what you bring back from your explorations and adventures into nature.

The thumbnails below are links to our contributors blogs where you can view their beautiful posts. The idea of a meme is that you will visit each others blogs and perhaps leave a comment to encourage your compadres!

                                     Come on, it's your turn!



24 comments:

  1. Thats just about the best cormorant photo Ive ever seen--the lighting was just perfect! I did a weekend kayak tour with Adventure Times in Key West many years back..but WHAT a fun weekend it was--I would advise anyone to go for it.
    So are we to put our Wild Bird Links here or over at the Other place?

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  2. Beautiful cormorant photos! There's something about them in flight that makes them photogenic.

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  3. Great photos. I love the first one. Greetings.

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  4. Awesome shots of the cormorants, Springman! Sounds like you had a great time on the kayak trip. There's no better way to see an estuary, then on the water!

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  5. Hiya Springman,

    Lovely new site.
    And that white header bird is a gem.
    BTW, the comments are not open there yet.
    Those cormorants looks so good against the blue sky. You must be missing those temperatures down South.

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  6. Beautiful shots of the comorant! I haven't got such great shots of it yet, but I'm working on it :) Interesting text also, nice...

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  7. Hello Everyone!
    Question one. Sondra asks which site should we use to post on. I am hoping the answer is either and that the sites will mirror each other. Stay tuned.

    I kind of overlooked the cormorant at first with all the other eye candy around. They are posers for sure and I clicked away. I found out about Cormorant fishing just this morning. This is getting interesting!

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  8. Niiiice! That second cormorant photo is excellent. The light's really pretty, great flight shot too. Cormorants are so goofy and awkward looking sometimes, other times they look really graceful. I like 'em either way!

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  9. Superb shots of these great fishermen.
    Great flight capture too.

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  10. Fantastic shots! I've recently discover a colony living in Lisbon, but it's a different species from those in your shots and also from those around here that, actually, seem very similar to 'yours'. I've watched several documentaries of the fishing cormorants in China, it's amazing!

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  11. Super images Springman and a great way to get close to the wildlife.

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  12. Those are great pictures. They're not my favorite bird, but they are very photogenic (especially when you take their picture). Their history is interesting -- I'd heard about how they were used to fish and I remember seeing photos of some ancient silk screens showing them at work

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  13. Great photos of the cormorants. I can always get closer to birds when out in my kayak.

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  14. Fascinating photos! I love the flying one the most!

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  15. I love birds and I love photography, but there is no way I am able to join this meme. Every option you give finished with an error or issue.

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  16. Cormorants are such great birds. Sweet shots of the Double Crested you got there!
    Glad you took the tour ;)
    I had heard about Cormorants being used for fishing before, but didn't know how they did it.
    Great idea with the extra site to collect the posts, wow!

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  17. Using Cormorants to fish for profit...breaks my heart. I can not watch that video.
    On a brighter note... your captures of these precious birds are outstanding!!!

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  18. These are all great photos of the Cormorant, but you've outdone yourself on the second one! That's a beautiful piece of art! Wonderful post!

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  19. Great shots of the Cormorant. Yours are so precise and detailed. Nice camera. We have many out this way. My fav pics are when they are all out on old pilings wings out--drying off. MB

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  20. Florida bird watching was the best Birthday Present my Love

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  21. Whew! 40 contributions on WBW! That is an awesome tribute to World Birders.
    Thanks for all the kind Cormorant comments. These pictures are a little academic, they don't tell much of a story, but I am amazed at the power of digital imaging technology. Getting around to all the blogs and experiencing the marvelous captures is overwhelming. So much knowledge and good humor being shared from continent to continent.
    The new WBW site appears to be a work in progress. There's no real manual for trying new ideas so I appreciate every one's patience as I bang my head against the virtual wall.
    It's Suzanne's 50th Bday today. Party!

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  22. great shots of the cormorant. :)

    Re my woodpecker. I guess you were not able to see the second shot. It is fixed. And yes, he was coming out from there.

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