The gothic charm of cormorants

Wenlock Edge In recent years these diving fish-hunters have become ubiquitous in freshwater lakes and rivers

The cormorants of Moscow Island wait as if in ambush. Perched in the gaunt branches of alders on this tiny manmade island in the Mere at Ellesmere, they are reptilian gargoyles gathered with Hitchcockian intent, eyeing visitors with murderous disdain. They are, however, even less dangerous than the geese constantly pushing their luck with lakeside strollers for food.

Time was when a colony of cormorants this far inland would be a rare sight, but in recent years these diving fish-hunters have become ubiquitous in freshwater lakes and rivers. The island was formed of road soil dumped on the ice during the freezing winter of 1812, when Napoleon was retreating from Moscow, but for all that they appear ancient and uncannily revenant, these cormorants are relative newcomers.