Sea bird behavior and what it tells us

[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.