Counting Cormorants

Still no Ring Ouzel in the paddocks at Cotham Flash this morning (but 2 Fieldfares); I didn't find one in a good walk round at Collingham Pits either, a bit disappointing as I was determined to find one this weekend, given the good numbers coming through, including a couple of birds in elsewhere Notts. Aside from no Ring Ouzels, there wasn't a huge amount else of note; small numbers of hirundines, a fly-over Yellow Wag, 2 Green Sands, a Little Egret, and a Peregrine scaring the local Stock Doves. There wasn't much at Mons Pool either, with singles of Green Sand, Redshank and Ringed Plover.

Given the lack of migrants, I spent some time trying to accurately count the Cormorant colony. This is easier said than done, given that some of the nest are obscured and there is a small rookery in the same location (i.e. black birds with twiggy nests...). The colony here was first recorded in 1990, peaking at 178 nests in 1999, but falling to 98 the year after; numbers then fluctuated between 78 and 120 up to 2006, when there were 90, and in 2007 a count of 137 was made (although I understand this was based on the number of Cormorants present rather than an actual nest count). My count (of 90 nests) is the first count since then, and suggests the colony remains fairly healthy.

Cormorants nesting at Mons Pool