Great Cormorant, a blue-eyed, prehistoric-looking bird which dives for fish. Found almost globally, these ones were on the River Thames and the Regents Canal, both in central London.

The first word of the bird's scientific name, which sounds like a line from the pop hit "Zabadak" or something worse, means "bald raven".

Characteristic pose to dry feathers, Barnes, south London

Conducting

 One of several species of cormorant and related shag throughout the world, this one with its white neck plumes looks a little like the Brandt's Cormorant of North America but is a Great Cormorant in London.

Cormorants sometimes flock together in large numbers, -- here together with Herons who provide look-out duty from a higher vantage point

Cormorants and Gull on River Thames, London

White-headed cormorant on the Seine, Paris

Cormorant flying over Thames