Lake Champlain, the large freshwater lake on the border of New York and Vermont, has seen its population of Double-crested Cormorants grow explosively since the 1990s. The most recent data, however, seems to indicate that the population, after years of culling and egg-oiling, might finally be leveling off, with a slight decline in the number of nests in the cormorants’ main nesting colony. Even better news for the cormorants’ most implacable foe, area fishermen, is that the cormorants seem to have shifted from a diet of mostly native Yellow Perch to mostly Alewives, which only recently invaded Lake Champlain. Perhaps we all can just get along?
Corey is a New Yorker who lived most of his life in upstate New York but has lived in Queens since 2008. He's only been birding since 2005 but has garnered a respectable life list by birding whenever he wasn't working as a union representative or spending time with his family. He lives in Forest Hills with Daisy and Desmond Shearwater. His bird photographs have appeared on the Today Show, in Birding, Living Bird Magazine, Bird Watcher's Digest, and many other fine publications. He is also the author of the American Birding Association Field Guide to the Birds of New York.
New writers welcome – please contact us for details.
Leave a Comment