Cormorant

Managed to get an hours birdwatching in today, this fine fellow was swimming around in front of the hide down at the Ings. I've always been a fan of cormorants, you think of them as a plain black bird and then you look a bit closer. This one is coming into breeding plumage, hence the whitening around the neck. The scalloping on the back is also impressive, almost like a tortoise. So the next time you see a cormorant take a closer look.

...below on a rock against the grey sea fretted,
pipe-necked and stationary silhouette,
cormorants stood in a wise, black and equal row

John Collings Squire