European Shags

I spent some of yesterday morning photographing the Shags on the East Side. There are plenty of pairs around at the moment, all collecting nesting material from the surface of the sea (twigs, grass, dried seaweed, rope etc.), and taking this back to create their 'nest' on the seacliffs. I really love the green eyes of Shags, and the fluffy crests are very cool on some of the more mature birds. Here are some images from yesterday:

The background in these pictures is a very calm, almost silky sea, which gives the impression of cloud! I have converted these two into black and white