Cormorant moodboard

The female lays and incubates smooth and glossy eggs that are white with purplish-red spots, and are about 14 mm by 10 mm. Both adults feed the newly-hatched young, and are often assisted by other birds, especially males, that have failed to breed that season.

For Christmas I got to feed a wild robin! My mother has been training the robin (Blackie) to feed from her hand a little every day, and I was honoured to be allowed to join in. 

Individual pairs will attempt to rear their own young, but if they fail, they will help at the nest of a close relative instead – a process known as cooperative breeding. The term ‘breeding unit’ is more appropriate, as they may amalgamate to form flocks of 30 or more which helps improve the survival rate of young.

Saw this cormorant diving a number of times in the lake, then coming back up with a load of pondweed on it's back. Dived again and the weed was washed off.

Effycore