Sea bird behavior and what it tells us

[DarkSkies]

Birds and Winter Herring......

Back in late December when the water was a little warmer there were schools of herring......
Most of these schools didn't have bass under them, they just moved up and down the coast....

As opposed to bunker, which sometimes stay closer to the surface as they feed, these herring were only visible by looking for a dark stain....

The birds could see them, though....with crystal clear clarity and perfect vision they would gather around the schools waiting for something to happen...it often never did, but the birds would wait anyway......

The following are pics I took one such cold dreary morning....

Thought some of ya's might like to see what I saw, the subtle signs......

[DarkSkies]

Stage 1 - the birds know the fish are there. They can see them and sometimes smell them, but there is no real activity from predators. So the birds will tend to group up where the bait is.

Some groups sit exactly over them on the water waiting for something to happen. Others sit on the shore looking for telltale clues from the ones over the fish that the action is ramping up.











The above pics show a group of birds sitting on a school of herring about 250' out....it's hard to see because it is a cloudy day. I took very large pics to study this at home, but had to downsize them to post. For anyone who finds it hard to see the best advice I can give is you can sometimes tell, if there is a lot of bait, where you will see a portion of the water stained darker than the rest.

With bunker it's easier to tell, because they are sometimes feeding on top.
Maybe others have experienced differently, but I have never found herring feeding on top in the daytime....it's usually the case that they are more mid-level, suspended from the bottom. So with herring, you need to be a little more perceptive than with bunker. If you want to do the same scouting, you have to teach yourself to recognize signs that bait is there, even when there are no predators to make it obvious.




As I post the rest of the pics, some viewers with sharp eyes will notice the herring as the darker stain I am talking about.
I believe this day there were 2 distinct bands of herring, one larger and one smaller.
It's hard to see that from these pics.

I prefer to do most of my scouting on overcast days....

I wish these pics could show a little more detail. This is the best I could come up with. In any event, they and the descriptions listed should help folks learn some of the things to look for. Hope you all find these helpful.

[surferman]

You really do some serious scouting dark. I guess it pays off in the long run. Thanks for sharing the information.

[finchaser]

Beg to differ with you here my friend
Looks like birds sitting in the water to stay warm or resting on the water where they lost sight of the bait, its the last know spot they saw bait . We follow this pattern in the boat bass and tuna fishing as we start a search pattern near the sitting birds usually in the direction the current is running. Birds fly high in the sky over herring and other schools of bait so they can keep an eye on them as they move around allot sometimes at fast speeds. The higher the birds the deeper the bait, lower flying birds usually indicate fish are pushing bait to surface and it may be an easy meal. This holds true for most seabirds except for gulls which hang on the beach. All sea birds always face into the wind as it don't ruffle their feathers. Most importantly waiting for the smell of a baits scent given off when they are being attacked. On the ocean bunker being attacked give off the smell of rotten eggs

[buckethead]

^^ bickering again finchaser? You two fight more than cats and dogs. Why don't you give the guy a break? On 2nd thought don't bother, I'll just go buy some popcorn and watch.

[finchaser]

^^ bickering again finchaser? You two fight more than cats and dogs. Why don't you give the guy a break? On 2nd thought don't bother, I'll just go buy some popcorn and watch.

Not bickering if your going to report facts report em right or don't report them by what you think is happening. He asks me to give my imput to help teach people here so it's not like other sites. I don't know why I even waste my time around here.

[bababooey]

Beg to differ with you here my friend
On the ocean bunker being attacked give off the smell of rotten eggs

I don't know finchaser don't want to stand on the toes of you surf sharpies but it does look like the water is stained a bit under those birds. And it seemed to me he referenced herring not bunker. Unless there are rocks underneath it does look like it could be fish under them. (With all due respect) I wish he would have taken better pics though. Dark you MUST take clearer pics from now on! We also want to see the background and the building markers too so we can follow your exact footsteps.
Finchaser don't know why you would get so rattled over this. Isn't everyone entitled to speak?