In late January, several pairs of Brandt's Cormorants began to build nests on Bird Island, those four curious new structures off Haskell's Beach in Ellwood that replaced the old oil company pier last fall. This was an exciting development, and along with the appearance of Brown Pelicans on the structures in the previous weeks, vindicated several years of effort and the many dollars spent to accommodate the birds using the old Bird Island while removing the remnant of a structure that had become regarded as a risk to public safety. The cormorant nesting colony has continued to grow since January, although for the time being at least, Brown Pelicans have abandoned the cormorant-crowded site as a roost.

By the time the remains of the old pier were destroyed last September and October, it had long gone out of use and had been reduced to a few concrete columns tightly clustered just offshore and connected by some rusty steel beams and part of an old wooden deck. Mostly a curiosity to humans (What is that old thing?), the old pier remnant was a boon to several species of seabirds. This was especially the case for the Brandt's Cormorants that nested there and the endangered California Brown Pelicans that roosted there. These two species more than any other took advantage of the artificial habitat and its isolation from the mainland, taking up residence and crowding around on all the girders, planks, and odd protuberances of the structure. But concerns grew about the dangers to the general public presented by the pier, and talk of taking it down began. The birds' fortuitous use of this monument to human neglect was endangered.

The four new structures, in their way, are an even greater curiosity than the old pier remnant. Arranged in a line that runs diagonally from the coast just offshore, they each consist of a large column with three triangular platforms, each pointing in a different direction and at a slightly different height, near the top of the columns. A little below the platforms is a narrow circular ledge encompassing each column. An odd sight to be sure, but a welcome sight for the birds looking for a safe place to rest or build a nest.

Now, the question was whether or not the cormorants would find the new Bird Island a suitable place to build a nest and raise a brood of young. That question appears to have been answered. Cormorants began doing their bowing courtship displays in January, and they were carrying nesting material to Bird Island by the end of the month. As of 3 March 2006, as many as 14 partial or complete nest structures could be seen on the triangular platforms perched high above the water. The cormorants undergo many false starts in nest building, as some nest structures appear and quickly disappear before ever reaching completion. But by early March, as many as five or six nests may have had eggs. This is still far from the roughly 40 Brandt's Cormorant nests counted at times on the old Bird Island, but it's a start, and there's a long way to go in cormorant breeding season.*

At least now we know that while beach walkers may look out at Bird Island and wonder "What are those things?" the birds know very well what they're for. And they can thank Santa Barbara Audubon, who is using science to conserve sensitive bird species along our coast.