28 Cormorants on the Calder nr Dewsbury.A cause for concern or a triumph for the achievments of the Water Board

The sight of 28 Cormorants on the River Calder near Dewsbury Town will Im sure bring divided opinion to a lot of people.For local fishermen it must set off alarm bells thinking how the well stocked river is about to be plundered by these birds.I hope that some will seeit as a sign of the progress made by the river authorities in cleaning up the river and making it healthy enough to support such a good variety of wildlife.Its not that long ago that one could just poke a foot into the river and bring it out covered in blue dye or some other obnoctiouse substance.Now we have several pairs of Kingfishers,Little Grebes and Goosanders breeding  on a regular basis .

On its banks we have seen an arrival of other breeding species such as Reed Warblers which in turn have attracted regular visits of Cuckoos sometimes 2 at once a site which is becoming more uncommon in other parts of the country.Also Sand Martins have increased markedly over the past 2 years themselves attracting such interesting species such as Hobbies now also seen in our area on a regular basis during the Summer Months.

When theres not too much good news about breeding birds in the country lets hope our river continues to improve.