Wrong Coloured Cormorant

[Lakesailor]

Further to my post in the Tuesday thread I've taken a pic from the shore of the Cormorants on Lady Holme. The yellow arrow shows where the pale coloured cormorant is.

This bigger shot shows it, bottom left. Apparently juveniles have a "whitish" lower belly, but this one is more like a penguin.
(Bit wibbly as it's 300mm @ 100th second)
Is this normal or is he (she?) off-colour

 

[Kilter]

Which cruel so and so shoved a penguin up a tree?

 

[jenku]

There is a similar one on this pic, quite in the middle up the tree. So if it is not the same and he/she/it has moved from Sweden down to you there are at least two of them.

 

[sarabande]

melanic variation ? It's not an albino. Melanin is what differentiates black colouration in animals / birds from whitish.

Mark you, if the real winter comes along soon, it will be less conspicuous and endangered.

 

[ShipsWoofy]

I think it is a juvenile

 

[Helina]

Why don't Inuits eat penguins?
Because Inuits live in the northern hemisphere and the penguins in the southern. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[sighmoon]

Great picture, Lakesailor

 

[Lakesailor]

looks like you're right. I've several bird books and they twat on about the white only being vestigal. Seems odd that out of more than 30 there's only the one. There's often over 100 on the island so I'll keep looking and may spot some more.

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

Is that 'Long Island' in Ransome speak?

 

[Lakesailor]

Long Island is in real life Belle Isle, which is the one facing you in Bowness Bay. If you take the ferry to the North of the lake you pass between Belle Isle and Lady Holme, or the small ferries go up the channel between the shore and Lady Holme. (circled in Yellow)

 

[harvey]

There was this ones twin brother in Weymouth this afternoon. They don't half get around....

 

[Lakesailor]

I found some earlier pics I took from the tender in October 2005. It shows some juveniles, but not as white as today's. And it's January now so they should be about black by now surely. Is this Global Warming?

 

[Lakesailor]

I wonder what time of year your picture was?

 

[Twister_Ken]

"Is this Global Warming?"

No, this is.

 

[Lakesailor]

That is a tasty snack.

 

[Genie]

Interesting - saw oneoff north coast of Guernsey while fishing off rocks a week or so back. I actually did a double take as I wasn't initially sure what it was, but definitely a cormorant, as it popped up just 8m from me and paddled past the rocks.
I thought it might have been a juvenile with it's lighter plumage - any RSPB boffins out there able to shed any light?
Rob

 

[jenku]

Late July 2004.

 

[BobE]

Agree I watched one on Satuday at Lymihgton. Looked just like your picture..
Cheers Bob E...

 

[tugboat]

Well I think you're all wrong, it's rice pudding. OK it's a juvenile, bound to be clumsy, just tripped and fell in a rice pudding, stands to reason. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[zzjfawce]

Some cormorants in New Zealand are pale-coloured. I am told that that another unusual feature of them, is that one rarely finds birds with webbed feet perching in trees. In NZ, they apparently have evolved to do it because the generally strong winds means landing in a tree is easier that going for a rock. Perhaps the same situation applies to Lake District cormorants?