Cormorants are very common all along the coast of Scotland, and these days can also be found on many inland waters and rivers.
They can often be seen with their wings outstretched to dry their feathers.
It used to be believed that Cormorants didn't produce the waterproofing oils that other aquatic birds do and so needed to dry their feathers like this.
This has been shown to be wrong, and it is now thought that they need to dry their feathers this way simply because they spend so long under water.
These were photographed on rocks at Morrison's Haven near Musselburgh where at low tide you can often see lines of Cormorants on one set of rocks, and rows of seals on the other rocks.
