Katharine and I had a short walk around the nearby Rawcliffe Lake yesterday afternoon. The lake is completely artificial, excavated on the site of an old airfield with the material excavated used to build the flood banks on Clifton and Rawcliffe Ings, as part of improvements to York's flood defences in the 1980s. The lake itself helps with land drainage on what was once a very muddy area. It allowed many houses to be built in the area.
The lake and it's surroundings have become home to a lot of birds, so it is always interesting to see what birds there are. Yesterday we were fortunate to see this cormorant, perched on the edge of a small wooden artificial island in the lake. As far as I remember this is the first time I've seen a cormorant here.
Cormorants are large, dark water birds. In the UK there are just two species, one essentially marine, the other found on all kinds of waters. Many other species are found around the world. They are long-bodied, quite large-tailed birds, with broad wings and long necks, and a general shape somewhere between divers and geese. They have short, thick legs, showing a relationship to gannets by the fact that webs join all four toes. Their bills are thick and hooked at the tip, helping to grasp fish, which they catch by diving under water.
Thank you all for your lovely comments and favs, they are very much appreciated.
Sorry for the late post. I expected to be a little late after my trip to Pickering today, but a road accident in the centre of York has caused chaos and very long delays all round the city.
I'll have to keep an eye out on the lake to see if the cormorant is a temporary visitor or a permanent resident.
Thank you all for your lovely comments and favs, they are very much appreciated.
Sorry for the late post. I expected to be a little late after my trip to Pickering today, but a road accident in the centre of York has caused chaos and very long delays all round the city.
I'll have to keep an eye out on the lake to see if the cormorant is a temporary visitor or a permanent resident.
The hook on it's beak is to help it catch fish.
Ian
Thank you Paul, I was quite pleased with this one.
Ian