I was already out with the camera at the weekend when I saw that a juvenile European Shag had shown up inland at a lake in Cheshire, only half an hour from me. So I made my way down to Astbury Mere in Congleton in the warm sunshine. After a wait of nearly an hour it revealed itself right beneath me. It must have been out of the water and drying it's wings out of sight beneath the grassy bank. It soon made it's way out into the open water to fish, and boy did it fish. It was constantly diving and eating. A great bird.
Here is the larger cousin, the Cormorant, that I had seen the previous day at Pennington Flash.
All the photos are splendid and they are lovely birds. Even the fierce cormorant.
ReplyDeleteI always have such trouble ID ing juveniles! Love your photos! The Cormorant is in a neat pose!
ReplyDeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteGreat sighting and photos of the Shag! We see more Cormorants here.
Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Take care, enjoy your day! Have a happy weekend!
Beautiful photos, especially the last one.
ReplyDeleteHello. Congratulations on seeing European Shag. It is very very rare in Finland. Photo of cormorant is awesome.
ReplyDeleteWonderful photos. The cormorant looks as if he posed for you. Hope you are having a great weekend.
ReplyDeleteWe see cormorants when we go out in our ocean boat. They like to hang out on the buoys watching for fish. - Margy
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