Please forgive me for I am easing my way in gently. We had an amazing couple of days away and in the main managed to dodge the heaviest rainfall. Of course I have taken way too many photos [when will I ever learn] which will take me a while to sift through and decide which ones will make the best blog stories. In the meantime this cormorant was casually drying out its wings on the dockside in Bristol. They do this because they don't have as much preen oil as other types of diving birds. Having only ever seen them at a distance I thought that they were all black. I had absolutely no idea of how stunning their plumage is or how green their eyes are. Looking at one at such close quarters it does have a bit of a pterodactyl look about it doesn't it.
Arilx
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Lovely to get a close up photo - they always look so odd with their wings out to dry
ReplyDeleteIt makes them very distinctive and easy to identify doesn't it. Arilx
DeleteFishing birds! I, the Tigger, am very wary of anything avian as big as that thing, and doubly respectful because it goes in water (or possibly drowns its food.... Either way I wouldn't risk a close up look at it just to see what colour its eyes are! xxx Mr T
ReplyDeleteHumphrey stays in when the storks from the Knepp Estate fly over for similar reasons. Arilx
DeleteWhen I went kayaking, we came across a group of cormorants in just the pose you have pictured here. Probably 5 of them, all on a rock facing the sun. I looked at your picture and thought immediately that your cormorants must be different than ours, because ours are all black. Turns out they are not!
ReplyDeleteI always believed they were black too Debby. Arilx
DeleteI can't unsee a pterodactyl now! xxx
ReplyDeleteThey really demonstrate why birds are dinosaurs don't they! Arilx
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