The Rescue

A mixed day today in every way. Wild and very, very wet. Listened in to Ken Bruce while I worked at the computer. Had a laugh when one of his listeners texted to say Glencoe was wonderful with all the waterfalls flowing down the mountains then complained about the rain. Ken of course was very quick to point out that the beauty of the area comes at a cost ; ie., the rain.


I had almost finished processing some shots when I got a call for help , a shag had settled on a neighbour's patio and she thought I would like tp photograph it. Off course I headed along hoping I would get a blip of it as it flew off.

No chance this poor bird was stranded. The SSPCA officer whom we called explained it must have been blown off course and needed to be put back in the water as it couldn't fly off from dry land. So John and, I as advised by the expert, had several attempts at throwing a large bath sheet over the shag ;
a) to protect us from its very long sharp beak
b) to help us carry it back to the shore.

Not easy as it kept running away and hiding under garden furniture which we then had to move . Finally, having captured the poor creature, we managed to carryit to the shore , not a great distance but tricky as it was very slippy underfoot.

Once we had tipped the bird out of the towel it tried to attack us and we had to move off very smartly. John got soaked. and off course I lifted the camera ready for an inflight shot , but instead it swam away and settled inthe long grasses on the edge of the loch. Near enough to get a shot but the light on the water wasn't great.

Any way hope it survives its escapade.

LARGE might be worth a look.
More or less sure it is a shag but very difficult to see the difference between it and a cormorant, so if I'm wrong please let me know.