I went somewhere different looking for Kingfishers. I have seen and photographed them here in the past, and in the three and a half hours I sat waiting for them, I did see them. In fact at times there were two Kingfishers speeding back and too in front of me.That was all they did for me, speed past.
I heard from other people, that they were performing nicely in front of the other hide, posing and quite busy fishing as well, but though nice to watch they are a bit too far away to photograph well there. So I stayed where I was, fortunately the Kingfishers were not the only birds after the fish.
This Cormorant came very close, in fact a bit too close, I would have preferred to have managed to get the rest of his reflection in, but they swim extremely fast and it was quite hard to keep him in frame.
Nice shot and especially interesting for me.So many of your birds are very different from ours...your robins and goldfinches for example look totally different from ours but these cormorants look the same. Do they just migrate through your area or are they there year around?
@gardencat Thank you Joanne, this is a Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo, and they are here all year round, but the numbers are swelled in the winter by migrants. They are quite common across Europe and down towards the coast of Africa.
In the USA, they occur on the east coast as far south as the top of Florida. They only breed over there though on the northern area of their range, mainly in Canada.
There is a very similar species which occurs over most of the USA at various times of the year and is present in Florida all year round. This is the Double Crested Cormorant Phalacrocorex auritus, I think this might be the one you posted back in October.
Many years ago, a Double Crested Cormorant managed to make it across the Atlantic to Great Britain, and I was lucky enough to get to see it.
That shot from October was taken right here in Ontario. I also posted one of nesting cormorants a couple of years ago which was taken in Florida http://365project.org/gardencat/365/2014-11-29 . I mostly see Cormorants here, in the spring or the fall, and usually only for a few days at a time so I think they may be migrating ones.
In the USA, they occur on the east coast as far south as the top of Florida. They only breed over there though on the northern area of their range, mainly in Canada.
There is a very similar species which occurs over most of the USA at various times of the year and is present in Florida all year round. This is the Double Crested Cormorant Phalacrocorex auritus, I think this might be the one you posted back in October.
Many years ago, a Double Crested Cormorant managed to make it across the Atlantic to Great Britain, and I was lucky enough to get to see it.