The west side of the island seems to have two levels of bird activity: dead and absolutely teeming. Of late, it's been rare to observe more than a few dozen birds fishing off the west side of the island, but a bit earlier in the year we saw some very epic feeding frenzies.

In the above video from the first of February, we see innumerable western gulls, western grebes, brandt's and double-crested cormorants competing for their share of a fish run. Brown pelicans could be seen plunge diving among them.

The next day, there were still countless birds fishing between Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge. Nearly all were cormorants.