Today I managed to catch some footage of a Little Black Cormorant swimming in a quiet offshoot of the Hawkesbury River.

We were at Akuna Bay in the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. The bay is home to a marina, with boats and jetties and restaurants, yet it was quiet and peaceful when we were there.

This is a still shot of the cormorant under the water:

Little Black Cormorants are one of five types of cormorants found in Eastern Australia. I don’t have many photos of them yet. As well as being entirely black, Little Black Cormorants are distinguishable by their bright green eyes. The next photo gives some idea of the eye colour, though it’s rather blurry:

Common name: Little Black Cormorant (see other cormorants)
Scientific name: Phalacrocorax sulcirostris
Approximate length: 65 cm
Date spotted: 29 December 2023 (summer)
Location: Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, New South Wales, Australia: 33°38’46.1″S 151°14’04.9″E

The creek was still and smooth. A haven for mosquitoes, alas, but pretty too:

Here’s a rare picture of me examining another part of the creek: