Psilos Bird Photography |
Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) |
Also known as the Great Cormorant this
is a large and conspicuous waterbird that is widespread and resident
in the UK. During the winter months Internationally important populations
of these birds also gather. Mainly coastal breeders alongside cliffs
and anywhere there are steep sides though, they are also being found
more commonly inland on gravel pits and reservoirs were there are plenty
of tall trees too. It feeds exclusively on fish. The Cormorant is a
very wary bird and my efforts to get near enough to photograph it have
been thwarted many times. The photographs below are my best efforts
so far but I keep on trying! |
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Cormorants can often be seen fishing together
in order to confuse the fish and drive them to one another. |
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Eels form a large part of their diet particularly
when fishing in lakes and marinas. Sometimes though they can take quite
a while to swallow and digest. The bird in the photo below struggled
to swallow this fish for over twenty minutes before he eventually got
it down. |
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During the winter months cormorants can
be found in large numbers on inland fresh water lakes. The birds with
the paler breasts aer juveniles. |
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Pennington Flash November 13th 2005 |
