A double-crested cormorant takes off from the West Branch of the AuSable River in the Wilmington Notch Saturday, Sept. 17. Cormorants are well known — and considered a nuisance species by some on larger waterways, such as Lake Champlain — but they are sighted regularly on rivers and lakes inside the Adirondack Park, according to naturalist and licensed guide Ed Kanze, of Bloomingdale. Kanze said he saw one this summer on a hike to Grassy Pond near Blue Mountain Lake. Cormorants are close relatives of pelicans. According to the Lake Champlain Basin Program, nesting cormorants on Lake Champlain average more than 4,000 pairs, and the summer population swells to about 15,000 birds. (News photo — Andy Flynn)