I went to Farmoor today, technically after a Common Scoter, but in truth because I really needed some time out, by myself, in nature. I achieved both aims, though my record shot of the Common Scoter, which was hanging out pretty much in the geometric centre of F1, would only be of use to you if you already knew what a Common Scoter looked like. And if you were already familiar with this large sea duck… honestly, you’d wonder why I bothered showing you a photo that had all of about a hundred pixels on the bird. Still, it was a new one for my life list, and a poor record shot does at least give me something to better, the next time I encounter one.
More interesting to me than adding a tick to my list was the unexpected sight of a number of Cormorants in full breeding plumage. “What are you doing with your lives?” I asked them sternly. “It’s not even mid-January yet!” However, my RSPB handbook tells me that Cormorants nest from March to July, so I suppose it’s not unreasonable that adults in their prime should be moulting into their breeding finery already.
It used to be said that you could distinguish between the two races of Cormorant by the concentration of white filoplumes in their headgear – the “native” nominate subspecies, Phalacrocorax carbo carbo having a darker head than the European Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis, However it’s now been proved that this is an unreliable indicator, and that the only sure way to tell the two subspecies apart is to look at the patch of yellow skin behind the lower jaw: in P. carbo carbo it’s angular, while in P. carbo sinensis the rear edge lies at a right angle to the line of the gape. This particular bird has a very square yellow patch, as well as a spectacularly white wig, so I’m confident that it’s from the European ‘sinensis’ race. Traditionally, the sinensis race favoured inland habitats, and bred in trees, while the carbo race was coastal, but now this distinction is becoming increasingly blurred, as birds from the native race are moving inland and joining sinensis colonies.
There’s a good Bird Guides article here if you need more help in distinguishing your Cormorants and Shags.
R: L2, C3, D25.
