Four years ago, a mandarin duck appeared at the municipal pond in Bolesławiec. Today, we received a report from a reader that a bird larger than a duck and with dark plumage had appeared near the popular Łajba. As it turned out, the bird was a great cormorant.
We managed to record it drying its wings after an earlier dive. As we read in Wikipedia:
(...) When swimming on the water, it submerges its body deeply while raising its head and neck high. Cormorants, like most birds, have a uropygial gland, but its secretion does not make their feathers waterproof, as it does in other waterbirds, and after coming ashore cormorants must dry their feathers for a long time. They then adopt a characteristic position with their wings partially spread.
The other inhabitants of the municipal pond—the ducks and swans—keep their distance. It is not known how long the cormorant will stay in Bolesławiec. We invite you to view the photos and a short video report.