Funny to see this headline at the same time as Martin’s photo just published; not to mention previous posts of Cormorants from time to time.

With a nickname like Black Death (click the headline for the full story), it seems some think of these amazing birds in quite strong, negative terms; they sound evil.  Are they? Of course not.  Just providing a little friendly competition to those with rod and reel:

Known to anglers as the Black Death, the cormorant is a killing machine that can swim two minutes underwater and diving 80ft. In China, fishermen hunt with trained cormorants, but in Europe the protected species is a hated rival, blamed for emptying rivers of fish.

Anglers have been petitioning the government to do something about the birds for more than a decade. But a perception that cormorant numbers are now out of control has resulted in a clamour for unprecedented action.