Photo: Nigel Odin
Nigel Odin
Winter Cormorant movements over Landguard Bird Observatory, Suffolk The number of Great Cormorants Phalacrocorax carbo recorded at Landguard Bird Observatory has increased in recent times. Prior to the winter of 2016/2017 no count had reached four figures with a peak count of 958 on 17th January 2016. The usual pattern of occurrence is for counts to increase rapidly from in the single figures late October, peaking mid-January and declining rapidly again mid-February to single figures in early March. During the winter of 2016/2017 counts went through the roof with peaks off 3020 25th December 2016, 3253 January 16th 2017 & 3100 January 22nd 2017. Birds are counted early in the morning flying overhead in an easterly or southeasterly direction straight out to sea to the sandbanks around the area of the Cork
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Sands. If the tides are low, birds sit on parts of the exposed sandbanks making them look like a distant oil slick. Some birds can be seen returning inland before the last few birds have gone out suggesting that the sea fishing is extremely productive and they can fill their bellies for the day in the matter of a few minutes fishing. After an hour or so most remaining birds have departed to the north, having either finished fishing or being forced off the sand banks by changing tidal conditions. Counts are very cyclical in nature often declining into only double or low three figure counts for a few days before returning to high levels. The exact reason for the erratic numbers counted was suspected as being linked to culling. A simple request for information on when this was taking place
