Date: 4/21/26 5:46 pm From: Lynn Scarlett via groups.io <Lynnscarlett...> Subject: Re: [sbcobirding] Brandt's Cormorants on the mainland
Mark
Here are photos from UCSB campus point and from COP. At COP, I watched hundreds and hundreds of Brandt's cormorants flying east (I put 500 as my eBird number but, honestly, it was more than that--way more than that).
The ones from UCSB lagoon are along the cliffs and beach/rock outcroppings. On the outcroppings were numerous dead cormorants but you cannot see them in these photos.
On Tuesday, April 21, 2026 at 03:51:25 PM PDT, Betsy Mooney via groups.io <wingblossoms...> wrote:
Hi Mark,
This group of Brandt’s Cormorants was located east of Stearns Wharf, visible from the back of The Sea Center, on March 17, 2026. I had not been aware of Brandt’s Cormorant issues, but I have not observed them here very often, and definitely not in large numbers. My conservative estimate was approximately 150 birds.
On Tue, Apr 21, 2026 at 10:18 AM Thomas Turner via groups.io <habarimbu...> wrote:
I will just add that on iNaturalist, you can add tags and metadata to your posts, like dead vs. alive. Then you can search for a species and only look for dead records, for example, which can be useful. You can also add these annotations to the records posted by others.
Tom Turner
On Apr 21, 2026, at 9:22 AM, Jamie Chavez via groups.io <almiyi...> wrote:
Thank you, Mark, for pointing this out. This also allows me the chance to remind eBirders to NOT add dead birds to eBird checklist totals. This is counter to eBird rules. You can count all the live cormorants you see and add comments that X number of deceased birds were present (but not counted in your checklist total). Another option is to use iNaturalist to count and document deceased birds. This is permitted through that platform.
Jamie M. Chavez
Santa Maria, CA
Sent from Proton Mail for Android.
-------- Original Message --------
On Tuesday, 04/21/26 at 09:07 Lynn Scarlett via groups.io <Lynnscarlett...> wrote:
Oh. Wish I had thought to document this yesterday (and today) at COP. Soooo many dead cormorants everywhere! I saw probably 30 in just a quarter mile.
On Apr 21, 2026, at 8:55 AM, Mark Holmgren via groups.io <maholmgren33...> wrote:
Many of you are aware of this tragic situation with Brandt's Cormorants, apparently caused by food shortage, driven by warm ocean temperatures to our north. I'd like to document this. If any of you have a photo of large numbers of Brandt's Cormorants at mainland Goleta Point, or any other coastal promontory, could you send one to me please?
Thank you,
Mark HolmgrenSan Marcos Pass
