First winter, last winter Great Northern Diver in Carbis Bay

This pitiful young Great Northern Diver surely won't make it to adulthood.  The images show clearly the fishing line caught inside its' mouth, to such an extent that it is ripping the gape.  Images below also show the line has tightened round the back of the neck.  I also have a suspicion that the line is tangled round the left wing as a long sequence of shots showed that it cannot stretch the wing.

In the past, there has been an outcry about auks being tangled in nets in Carbis Bay - it looks very much like the issue is still with us.

At last a bright day for photography

Today is the first day in weeks where I haven't had to check the shutter speed.  The light has been stunningly clear today and gave me an opportunity to get to grips with a pair of Great Northern Divers in Newlyn Harbour.  Normally quite distant when feeding offshore, better photo opportunities can be found within the harbour walls.  Newlyn is one of the best of Cornish sites for close views of this impressive bird.

EXIF Detail: Aperture priority.  F/6.7  Shutter speed 1/1000s. Exposure 0.0EV. ISO 400. Centre weighted metering. Focal length 1000mm (600mm F/4 plus 1.7xTC).

Divers in Gerrans Bay

Three Black-throated Divers look on in envy as the adult Great Northern catches a flat fish. The moulting Great Northern came to within 40 yards of the water's edge on the beach and took ten minutes to swallow its prey. Exposure set to 0.0 White Balance cloudy. ISO 400. Shutter speed 500th sec. Gerrans Bay is the best site in Cornwall to find wintering divers, especially Black-throated. The area is nationally important for divers and grebes and flocks of 60 plus Black-throats have been recorded here in the past. Red-throated Diver is the least common. The area is also reliable for wintering Red-necked, Slavonian and Black-necked Grebes. Great-cresteds have also become more frequent in recent years.