photo by Greg Hofmann

05/12/03: The egrets and herons get most of the oohs and ahhs, but dozens of Double-crested Cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) also nest in the Elkhorn Slough rookery. These cormorants have “inherited” the dying Monterey Pines that the egrets and herons have largely abandoned in favor of the living trees further south, as noted in last week’s photo. (Incidentally, “cormorant” means “sea raven,” from the Latin corvus*, raven, and marinus, sea.)