Cormorants are NOT early birds

The past two mornings there has not been a single bird in the cormorant tree. Do they not like the cold weather? The roar of bike week? Perhaps the opposite is true and they have been out partying. What a relief when I drove by at 6:30 (PM) and the right side of the tree (they're conservative) was decorated with more birds than I could count while operating a moving vehicle. (yes, green light and yes, if you hear of a rear end collision at that intersection start praying it isn't me.) When I am not dodging cars, I am staring at bird beaks and I tell you I cannot see the cormorant hook. I had a light bulb moment - binoculars! OK, I can see it now and already it feels awkward. I park the car at the 7-11 and walk down Nova on the sidewalk, camera on my wrist, b'nocks around my neck. Oh, wait, I don't own binoculars - I'll have to borrow mom's. Ahh, I'll be stopping traffic for sure!