CORMORANT (Phalacrocorax carbo)

Regular visitor to Fairlands Valley Lakes. 

Following their protection under the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 and, an increase in suitable inland habitat, Cormorant numbers have increased in Hertfordshire considerably.

Regular visitors to Fairlands Valley Lakes, from where they were first recorded on 8 September 1974, with records from every month of the year, the most seen together are 17 on 1 February 2023.

Individuals and small numbers are frequently seen flying over Stevenage (the largest numbers being seven flying north over Six Hills Way on 18 March 1994 and 10 flying over Norton Green Tip on 29 September 2021), Aston (the largest number being 10 flying over on 5 March 2019), and Aston End.

They have also been seen at the Town Centre Gardens, and one was seen resting on top of a Stevenage factory chimney on 14 December 1983. 

Fairlands Valley Lakes 25 September 2020