Don’t they look scruffy? This is a close-up of the shags who watched the airshow in yesterday’s post. These birds are fantastic divers. They can stay underwater for quite a long time chasing their prey like little torpedoes. They have less fat than other water birds and their feathers are less oily, therefore they sink faster and deeper than other birds. But because they have less oil they actually get wet.

When they come up after a dive they shake their feathers and spread their wings to dry. Unfortunately there was no sun last weekend, and they didn’t feel like hunting. I watched them for a long time sitting in the rain and I even went back the next morning.
The rain had stopped and I could capture one with spread wings sitting under the tree like batman junior.

Ah well, it was a wonderful peaceful Sunday morning.