*‘Continental’ Cormorant (juvenile, probably female) Ribchester August 2020 - the young birds always look a bit dopey to me*

I’VE BEEN LOOKING AT CORMORANTS IN EAST LANCASHIRE since I got here in 2005, partly because there was little else to look at much of the time, and the overwhelming impression I get is that all the birds I see inland are of the sinensis subspecies, known as ‘Continental’ Cormorant. Many of them have obtuse gular patch angles and look distinctly shag-like. This angle needs to be more than 72 degrees to be clear of the most extreme nominate carbo birds and you can see the birds in these photos appear to be more like a 90 degrees right angle. This shouldn’t really be a big surprise as all the cormorants I see are miles inland and fishing in the River Ribble. They are also shot here from time to time as they obviously predate fish stocks so the youngsters are usually the most approachable for obvious reasons.

THEY'RE ALL SINENSIS AREN'T THEY?