Former SBU officer exposes Ukraine

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Outside the warehouse prison 

Vasily Nikolaevich Prozorov, a former SBU (Ukrainian Security Services) officer, escaped to Russia with a huge trove of potentially damaging information against the Poroshenko regime. It ranges from the running of black sites where prisoners are tortured and deprived of air to Ukraine’s culpability in the downing of MH17. Also in the trove is the involvement of the CIA and MI6 in joint operations with the SBU.

Inside the warehouse prison

Prozorov gave an international press-conference yesterday outlining some of his revelations. Independent observers believe there is a lot more to come. One of the torture sites is a warehouse near Mariupol military airport. It is known that two people have died from the extreme tortures with the possibility of many other deaths since there is a network of secret torture-sites in Ukraine. The prison near Mariupol is referred to as “The Library” and prisoners are called “books”.

Two victims of Ukraine's torture prisons

Great Britain and the United States have sent a number of advisors to Ukraine. Prozorov claims that the CIA have had a residential presence since the conflict began in 2014 and make regular visits to the SBU headquarters. He even goes so far as to name two MI6 “agents” – Charles Backford and Justin Hartman who went to Kramatorsk for which they had to get special permits from the SBU. He thinks the year was 2016. He further named a member of the [US] Defense Department’s Intelligence Agency, Harry Reid, as a visitor.

Prozorov, V. N. 

In his televised interview Prozorov was convinced that Ukraine was involved in bringing about the destruction of MH17 which claimed 298 lives and was directed over war-torn Donbas. When he tried to make inquiries into this he was told “If you don’t want to have problems keep your nose out of it.” He named the current deputy chief of the Ukrainian presidential staff Valery Kondratyuk and chief of the Ukrainian Defence Ministry’s intelligence directorate, Vasily Burba, for the cover up regarding MH17.

Prozorov's SBU credentials

In the interview Prozorov appeared to have a strong hand and was keeping his cards close to his chest. There is likely to be more to come. At the time of writing it has been difficult to get a western view on these revelations from our media. It should not be long before Bellingcat is hard at work. In the meantime one dissenting voice, The Koz Times, points out that Prozorov “was dismissed from the post of the senior consultant-expert of a department of the headquarters of the security Service of Ukraine” for “systematic use of alcohol in the workplace, discrediting the rank of officer.”

I have a good idea on what our media might be concentrating.

N.B. This was originally published on my Wordpress blog on 26/03/2019. 

https://johnplatinumgoss.wordpress.com/2019/03/26/former-sbu-officer-dishes-the-dirt-on-ukraine/

Unfortunately although I have been trying for hours I cannot edit it or write a new post to explain that I cannot share it on FB and when I try to edit, check for comments or create a new post on Wordpress I get the following message:

The IAAF Olympics Committee is worse than Adolf Hitler

Follow @JohnPlatinumG At the time of the 1980 Olympics in Moscow for political reasons, purportedly over the USSR's involvement in Afghanistan, Margaret Thatcher urged athletes not to compete in the Moscow Olympics and supporters to boycott the Games. One of the athletes who defied this advice was Sebastian Coe, who won a gold medal in the 1500 metres. I defied the advice too and went to Moscow where I was treated extremely well. Thatcher did not ban athletes from competing, she just advised them not to go.

The same Sebastian Coe who defied Thatcher has now, as President of the IAAF, spoiled the dreams of athletes, who like him in 1980, have been training for life for this opportunity. It is clearly a political decision and has nothing to do with the few athletes of all nations who choose to cheat by using performance-enhancing drugs. Sadly politics has ruined sport and sportsmanship as I demonstrated in my last post.

Ever since the west set up a puppet-government in Ukraine and imposed sanctions against Russia for following the wishes of the population of Crimea and its alleged military involvement in the civil-war started by Poroshenko, the west has not missed an opportunity to try to punish Russia. Blame Russia. Blame Putin. These are the slogans on the lips of every MSM mouthpiece.

It disturbs me that my country, and other western countries, have gone down the same road as Adolf Hitler in his attitude towads black and non-Aryan people including non-Aryan athletes. Thankfully Hitler was put in his place and Jesse Owens returned to the US with four gold medals only to be snubbed by President Roosevelt. Racism against blacks was the bigotry of the day replaced today by persecution of Muslims. The west in its xenophobic hatred of Russians is no different from Hitler in his belief that Aryans were superior, except he did not ban Jesse Owens from competing.

Sebastian Coe, no angel himself and in the middle of several corruption scandals, should be ashamed of himself for toadying to the US/UK attempts to discredit Russia. The US economy is on its last legs and this is a cynical diversionary tactic. As a lad I used to run, I was never any good, at the various clubs in the West Riding including Hallamshire (where Coe ran). Coe should think back to those days and all the work he put in building up the speed and stamina that made his dream come true. Then he should consider what this stupid decision of the IAAF has done to crush the dreams of good honest Russian athletes. Nobody from Russia will compete under any flag but Russian.

Can somebody with the knowledge please start a petition to support Russian athletes? I'll link it here and spread it. Thanks.

Soccer: England did not deserve victory against Russia

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The BBC, politics, sport and lies

Mainstream media has a lot to answer for in the way it propagandises everything: including sport. There used to be a policy to try and keep politics out of sport. But when the main defaulter in this policy is the BBC it is little wonder that the fans follow their lead. This is a page I came across when trying to select which matches I wanted to watch. It relates to promoting last night's match between Germany and Ukraine.

What alarmed me with this page was the top story under Headlines: MH17 Prosecutors want Russian answers. Remember this is a sports page. It is concerned with Ukraine and its match against Germany. But the first headline is reinforcing a meme which the BBC, and other mainstream outlets, have adopted as their mantra - blame Russia, blame Putin. They have perpetuated this ever since the western-sponsored coup to remove the legitimately-elected government of Ukraine. Click the link and you can learn how certain Australian lawyers are trying to get compensation for MH17 victims - nothing to do with football, nothing to do with Europe.

The irony here is that Russia is being called upon to provide evidence about the shooting down of MH17. Russia was the first to provide evidence. Countries withholding evidence are the USA (its alleged satellite images) and Ukraine (its air-traffic control records for the day). Not that that will bother the BBC which used to have some credibility but has sold itself so far down the road of perfidy there can be no turning back. In Ukraine for months before the coup the BBC covered street protests on the Maidan. When the overthrow took place and Poroshenko started a civil-war in which 10,000 have been killed the BBC virtually clammed up.

With street-fighting back in the international football frame, and FIFA threatening to ban Russia and England from the tournament because of fan behaviour, it is time to take a measured response to what is happening. Not all football followers are fanatical. Not all regular match-goers are fanatical. I enjoy watching a game of football myself and I agree it can get emotional. Drumming up hatred is something the mainstream media should not be doing. It should instead present unbiased politics-free sport. But even in the sport itself there is blatant disinformation.

A dubious foul that led to England's goal

I watched the England-Russia match (ITV1) with interest and am pleased to say that England had much more possession, especially in the first half, and more scoring opportunitites. That is not to say the Russian defence was shoddy, just that England were good. They passed well and showed the speed a young side should be able to show. Russia defended most of the attacks well and even put one or two together themselves.

Then came the so-called foul that led to England's goal. While England had been pressing it was becoming ever more evident they would not score from open play. In the 72nd minute Dele Alli ran into Georgy Shchennikov instead of around him. For some unaccountable reason, and right on the edge of the box, the referee penalised Shchennikov, yellow-carded him, and awarded a free kick in a very dangerous position. The goal that followed was superbly executed from a set-piece.

I thought at the time that it was never a foul. But ITV1 continued as though it was. No replay of the 'foul' was shown, and even after the match, when the talking heads summed up a match that Hodgson claimed should have been a victory but seemed more like a defeat because of Russia's late equaliser from open play there was still no replay. Because I did not believe it was a foul I tried in vain to get footage of the 'foul'. Google is crap. In the end I had to go to a Russian broadcasting station, Вести, to see the alleged foul. You can judge for yourselves. It starts three and a half minutes in. However many times I have watched this it is not a foul in my eyes. But the deceit, this time ITV1, is what most concerns me. As with the BBC over the non-reporting of the Ukrainian civil war they indulged in what Catholics call a sin of omission.

Hammond egg on his face

Follow @JohnPlatinumG The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention after due consideration reached the conclusion that Julian Assange was being 'arbitrarily detained', that he should be released, compensated and given back his passport. Our Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond, did not agree with the decision - though when earlier given an opportunity to appeal against the courts findings declined. Instead he waited for their conclusion  and lambasted the international lawyers who had made the advice. This is most improper and childish of someone without a legal background yet so high-ranking in the UK government.

"I reject the decision of this working group. It is a group made up of lay people and not lawyers. Julian Assange is a fugitive from justice. He is hiding from justice in the Ecuadorian embassy.

He can come out any time he chooses.. . . But he will have to face justice in Sweden if he chooses to do so. This is frankly a ridiculous finding by the working group and we reject it."

First let us see if he is right. Are they lay people? I think not. Click on this link which gives the credentials of the five international lawyers. These are biographies of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights. The only person commenting adversely on these experts' credentials and opinions is someone least qualified to do so: Philip Hammond.

Can the UK reject the findings of the Working Group? Yes. One of the problems with international law is that findings can be rejected by a nation state. The UN Working Group is a higher authority than a nation state and the UK has a lot to lose by not applying the advice. You expect countries like Israel and Saudi Arabia not to abide by international law but traditionally, before the turn of the century, not countries like the UK.

All that changed with Tony Blair's illegal war on Iraq and since then human rights in the UK have gone decidedly downhill. There are all kinds of Acts to hold people in prison without trial, to hold courts in secret so that evidence cannot be tested, to prevent coroners from conducting inquests by replacing the inquest with an Inquiry, as in the recent Robert Owen Inquiry into the death of Alexander Litvinenko. Human rights, going right back to the Magna Carta (1215), are being dumped in the twenty first century. This, I believe, is part of a last-ditch attempt by failing empires to enslave the planet.

I am working on a draft to petition parliament, the European Court of Human Rights, Philip Hammond himself, and Jeremy Corbyn to compel Hammond to obey international law. The UK is a permanent member of the Security Council of the United Nations and Hammond is trying to make a mockery of that body. The reason the League of Nations (predecessor to the United Nations) failed was because certain countries did not abide by League of Nations' findings.

The powerlessness of the League of Nations was demonstrated most conspicuously in the Lytton Inquiry which investigated the false-flag Mukden Incident (1931), in which the Japanese blew up a railway siding, blamed it on the Chinese, and used it as an excuse to invade Manchuria. Despite Japan being culpable according to the League of Nations, Japan ignored the findings and withdrew from the League of Nations in spring 1933. Three years later Haile Selassie petitioned the League of Nations to intervene to stop Mussolini's invasion of Ethiopia (Abyssinia). Again it proved to be powerless to help. Finally Hitler's planned invasion of the Sudetenland, in what may have been a genuine attempt to avoid war by the UK and France a quadrilateral agreement between Italy, Germany, UK and France, allowed Germany to march into Czechoslovakia. The League of Nations stayed silent. Some may be old enough to recall that Japan, Germany and Italy were enemies of the allied forces in World War II.

With the case of Julian Assange the UK and Swedish governments are proposing to disobey international law in order to perpetrate the same kind of nation-state criminality the League of Nations was unable to prevent. Even if Julian Assange took advantage of a woman he had earlier that night had consensual sex with, he has been incarcerated for five years, in prison, house arrest and where he is now at the Ecuadorian Embassy. For a first offence it would be more than a severe punishment. Thinking people know that this is an attempt to get him extradited to the United States because of his revelations through Wikileaks of war crimes by that country. We really need to oppose these breaches before we end up being called fascists ourselves.

The Litvinenko Farce - your legal rights are vanishing under your nose

Follow @JohnPlatinumG This is my first blogpost for over twelve months. The reason is I am writing a novel about Russian  emigre poet George Ivanov (1894-1958) and this takes much of my spare time. However, with the Litvinenko Inquiry I am so incensed, I cannot stay silent. A High Court judge, Sir Robert William Owen, has taken it upon himself, with authorisation from David Cameron, against the advice of his Home Secretary, Theresa May, to pronounce judgment on the death of the shady Alexander Litvinenko. Unlike his former boss, the shady Boris Berezovsky, there has been no completed inquest into Litvinenko's death

My colleagues at News Junkie Post, Gilbert Mercier and Dady Chery, have kindly published my thoughts in an article and added some excellent illustrations, so I will not repeat it. You can read it at the link below. Please feel free to share it with your friends and on other sites. And if you like it, give the 'Like' button a nudge. Thanks!

http://newsjunkiepost.com/2016/01/22/litvinenko-inquiry-death-of-justice-in-the-united-kingdom/

Right, it's back to the novel for me.

Popularity by visits

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Two years ago I listed the three most popular blog-posts during that year. I have decided to do the same again for the last twelve months but instead of three this year just the single most popular. This is because the most popular piece by far was the downing of MH17 which took more hits than any other blog-post I have written and almost four times as many as the next most popular piece.

Russian Satellite Evidence

It is strange that the United States, which clearly has satellite images has not released its information even now. Perhaps, as with the weapons of mass destruction evidence for justifying the Iraq war, they are still manufacturing it.

My most popular article for News Junkie Post also concerned Ukraine. I suspect the popularity of Ukrainian news items has more to do with the fact that our media has just not been reporting the true state of affairs.

Ukraine and Crimea's Vanishing Gold

Finally, I have started a new blog about bird stories called 'Tales of Wings and Feathers', which contains my Christmas story of Malinovka.

Tales of Wings and Feathers

Here is wishing everybody peace for 2015.

The Duchess's tale (with her kind permission)

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I've worked with Duchess many times. One of my best models. She has graced the cover of "Magret de Canard de la Table Ronde" and posed a provocative centre spread for "Duck Times". I have high hopes of this latest photo of mine hitting it big somewhere, perhaps even  - I should be so lucky - "Crème de la crème of Water Fowl". When you get a good model you treat her well. Models are your bread and butter. Just look at how she presents and those beautiful brown eyes with eyelashes some chicks would die for. No wonder all the drakes are after her.

You treat a model well and she in turn will confide in you, tell you all her problems and secrets. If professional photographers did not have to adhere to a strict code of conduct some of the stories entering mainstream would really raise eyebrows, even hackles in some cases. "The last couple of days have been Hell, John," Duchess told me, "absolute Hell. I know you males stick together. But I hope you would never associate with the likes of some of those dirty-dancing drakes. Him in particular." She nodded towards a well-groomed specimen on the mill race who I thought looked quite a respectable sort. She called him Shylock. He was following her some short distance away.

From the photo, which I've entitled "study in green", you can see for yourself he's quite a dapper sort of chap; presentable, smooth and even sporting what we used to call a DA hairstyle. From behind he has very much the rearview image of John Travolta in "Grease". Anyway it was clear he fancied the Duchess. But then who doesn't? "He looks pretty decent to me," I said. "you should call him Travolta."

"Decent," she snapped back sharply, "decent. Look at these." She spread out some photographs on the bank. "It was Shylock who started this fight yesterday at the bridge. He went straight for the jugular of that young swimmer and just because the poor thing looked at me. All the young drakes look at me, and that's all he was doing, looking."

 

©  Duchess Studio

I could see she was right but to tell the truth I was rather more concerned about the quality of her photo. When your models start taking photos almost as good as your own it makes you think seriously about your future. When I get these negative thoughts I tend to console myself in the comforting knowledge that it is impossible to take professional-grade photos of yourself. My distraction was soon interrupted when the Duchess continued with her tale. "The fight moved round from the bridge onto the edge of Trittiford millpond." Her photo showed that Shylock was now attacking the young pretender from the other side.

 ©  Duchess Studio

"And then his mate joined in." Shylock was going for that pound of flesh nearest the heart. Her photos confirmed her account. He was attacking the young drakeling without mercy. You can see he's only a kid. The poor thing has not yet even developed his full magret plumage. Duchess felt sorry for the juvenile. "To begin with," she said, "I thought Shylock's mate, Antonio, was just as bad as he was until I could get a better angle with my built-in camera. Then I was able to see that he was actually trying to pull Shylock off."

 ©  Duchess Studio

Duchess told me she thought the fight was getting a bit out of hand. "Pack it in boys" she shouted at them "and grow up." As long as I've known her she has never stood for any nonsense and instructed the three of them to take take a dip and cool off. As we went along the mill-race, which is always a good place for a photo-shoot, she in the water, me on the bank, Duchess slipped me another photo. This one was stunning, so stunning. I thought it better even than my 'study in green', the first, and probably last one I will ever take of him. It crossed my mind that Duchess ought to open a studio. Perhaps I might invest in it.

 ©  Duchess Studio

Shylock has a certain something. Not money perhaps. But the cut of his cloth speaks volumes. I had to speak the truth. "What a photo, Duchess. You've captured everything. He's a very impressive drake indeed." I awaited her acknowledgment of my compliment. Instead she lifted those big brown eyes of hers. "John, John, what is it with you males?" Mentally I was not prepared for this. "Just a great photo, that's all. I used to work with male models and I never captured anything quite this good." I thought that would settle her down. "You're missing something." My mind worked overtime to try and deduce what I was missing. I looked at her imploringly. "Can't you see the feathers," she said, "those feathers Antonio nearly plucked out of his wings." Although a bit embarrassed that I had missed this important detail, it was still a good photo in my book. I took a few snaps of Duchess then we turned round and started home.

My problem was I had been looking at it from a photographer's point of view. She was looking at it from a model's point of view. Everything has to be in place for a model, every feather, every eyelash, every toe-nail. I thought of Helen doing her nails in the middle of a shoot. As we trundled along I had failed to notice just how close Shylock had got to her. Duchess had though. "Watch him, he's just behind and he's got a bit of a reputation." I dropped back. Would you believe it?

 

He picked his spot. He probably thought because of the grass I could not get a half-decent shot of his indecent exposure. And I have to admit this is not the best of photos. Naturally my snapshot of him proves nothing. Photography is such a demanding profession. Yes, I know, being a model is demanding too Duchess. After this encounter I am thinking seriously of not working with male models again. Shylock, if he is not in the duck pen, is unlikely to get work after this. Anyway I need not have worried about evidence against him. Duchess gave plenty of proof of the incident. And from the actual angle it happened. She's so cool.

 ©  Duchess Studio

She was probably as taken aback as me and I think her photo is ever so slightly out of focus. Having said that nobody can discount it is clearly Shylock exhibiting himself. It would stand up in any court of law. So, I thought to myself, you have exposed yourself for what you are. You were after a pound of flesh nearest to the heart earlier, then Antonio, the merchant of Venice, plucked at some of your quills. Now you will be appearing before the beak. And the evidence goes strongly against you.

Unfortunately, just when I started to think a case was cut and dried . . . "Why Duchess? You had all the evidence."

"I don't care" she said.

She went straight for his bits. I think I even heard the crunch. It made me grimace myself. So now there are two cases coming before the beak. Shylock's indecent exposure, and the rather more serious matter of assault and wounding with intent.

Justice Archibald Drake, QC

Knowing Drake they will probably both get tagged. I've seen quite a few birds with these electronic gadgets round their ankles. Not to worry. All's well that ends well and I met Duchess yesterday. We have agreed to go into business together. We're opening a photographic studio: Duchess Studio. Guess what though. Even better for her. She's only gone and got herself engaged to Antonio.

Idiots

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The war on Islam has reached new depths or heights, depending on viewpoint. On the back of the recent "Go Home" failure of the Home Office the Association of Chief Police Officers has approved and is distributing leaflets in a new campaign to frighten the living daylights out of the poor populace of our capital and anyone in the country or from abroad that visits London. The leaflets look like this:

They are apparently, if you can believe it, being handed out at tube and railway stations in London. Even more unbelievable is they have not got the stamp of a private company but are the work of the Association of Chief Police Officers. Can you belive this?

My first thought was for the unarmed Jean Charles de Menenez who was gunned down mercilessly by Special Branch officers on a London tube station. Nobody has been charged with his murder.

If there was any gunfire or weapons' attack on a station in London that I was on I would be looking for flak-jacketed armed police officers with the latest most-sophisticated government-issue weapons. This is a country where gun-law has never been a major problem. The leaflet is nonsense. It is akin to the "walls have ears" and the "enemy within" mentality of the Second World War, both about threats that did not exist. The only terror threat on British soil today is likely to come from our own security services. This is the world we live in.

That is not to say an event which nobody could predict will not happen. Such scaremongering on the back of the announcement of more funding for the secret services is what worries me more than anything. It's like saying make sure you know what to do in the event of an earthquake, drone attack or tornado.

Her first naked outdoor photo-shoot - and it was cold and wet

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Good models do not come cheap. You have to work fast with the camera but then you have to get beguiling images too. Chicks new to modelling work out a bit cheaper but then you have to spend more time posing them. Today's model, to begin with, was particularly shy.

She told me it was her first outdoor photo-shoot in the raw. "That's all right, Chick. Don't worry, you'll be fine." It was cold and wet which didn't help. "And don't think I'm doing any full frontals." She really was a novice. "All right, come out from behind those ferns or the session will be over before we start." Remember I was paying for this. "What's more I'll be using my fans" she said.

Agreeing to a rear view to begin with she timidly emerged. To break the ice I asked her her name. She had a bit of a speech impediment and I didn't quite catch it but I think she said "Helen" or something like that. Anyway, that's what I called her all through the session. "Don't be shy, Helen, you have striking good looks, and the shoot will go fine."
"You think so?"

 

Those fans of hers were something to behold. But she was all crunched up and I think the cold was getting to her. "Now, my dear, would you mind stretching out that lovely long neck of yours." Tentatively she straightened out her neck and stopped waving her fans about. I thought it was an improvement.

But the coyness, unless it was an act, gave her all the appearance of a novice. "All right Helen, now can we have a shot from the other side? Thanks. Think of the cinema stars." That always gets a new model if you ask me. They all have this ambition of being Hollywood actresses.

 

Turning round she complained of the cold. It was cold. But she wasn't the one who had to keep the camera steady. "We can take a break in a minute," I said, "just straighten up a shade and give me a smile. There's a girl."

Smiling seemed to be beyond Helen, but I guess she was trying, and most beginners are not particularly blessed with an over-abundant supply of patience.  However Helen, for someone so lean, long-necked and long-legged had an over-abundant supply of curves.

"Hold that pose for a minute, Helen, please." She was getting there. We knocked off for a break. I changed my camera card, while Helen popped something into her mouth. I hoped she wasn't on drugs. When I got back you won't believe what she was doing. Only manicuring her toe-nails.

"All right, Helen, since you've taken the trouble, let's get a shot of you kicking out your lovely long legs like in the Can-Can." "Wait a minute," she said, "my nails are not dry yet." These models don't care that it's costing you all the time they're pampering themselves. In fairness though she was starting to look more like a professional.

When she did eventually kick out a leg for me it gave the appearance of a young Nazi stormtrooper, but I didn't say anything. Getting the best out of a model is demanding work. "Can we try a few close-ups now Helen please. I'm looking for facial expression as well as poise.

It was her idea to use a cane to go with her top-hat. I thought it worked quite well. And she was no longer looking the gawky teenager I first encountered. "Great, Helen, great. Let's do another intimate shot."

Almost instinctively she gave me this classic pose. I suddenly realised the session was going well. "Super, chick, super." She had some rare talent for seductive posing, just opening her fans slightly for a glimpse of what was to come. "Any chance of doing something more flamboyant with those fans you brought with you, Helen?"

She gave me a look well beyond her years. Getting her fans out she presented the camera with an exotic, almost erotic, display of wonderful modelling talent. "Oh, yes, Helen, more of that please."
Although she had said at the beginning of the shoot there would be no full-frontal photos she did at least give me this. I was drooling.

"Absolutely gorgeous, Helen, absolutely gorgeous. Now can you just turn your head slightly to the left." Photographers are always looking for that prize-winning shot that brings home the dosh. "Sorry, John, your time's up." I looked at my watch. She was right. Just as things were starting to hot up. Life's like that. She turned around. "Just one more please" I begged.

"Sorry, John, I have another shoot this afternoon. And this one's not so exposed as this Garden of Eden as you called it to tempt me out into this freezing wasteland." I pleaded. "Wait, Helen, wait." She threw both her fans right up above her head totally exposing herself. "Helen, wait please."

"Sorry, John." I started getting my wallet out but before I could stop her she was on her way. "Helen," I shouted at the top of my voice. She looked back and called out: "It's not Helen, it's Heron, you twonk!" Perhaps this was not her first naked outdoor shoot, I thought.

The shag that was not a shag

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Two days ago I was so pleased that I had discovered a shag and cormorant together. Today I have to revise that opinion. They were both cormorants - the one I thought was a shag was simply a young cormorant. As Alexander Pope put it "to err is human, to forgive divine." Forgive me, it was not a deliberate attempt to mislead. The photograph below clinches it. I sought further evidence afterwards and found it.

 

 Having got a closer view of the young cormorant I am now convinced that the two birds are the same type and this youngster is starting to get the white bib of an adult. Publishing before doing further research is almost as bad a mistake as my trusting Poroshenko to bring peace to Ukraine. Let me hope there are not too many more of these human peccadillos to come. But I have reached that age where I can blame every one of my human frailties on having reached that age.

It is a wonder there are any fish left in the lake. Just beyond the young cormorant was an old heron. It's reflection can be seen in this photo.

In mitigation for my identification mistake I have to say that the two small bird books I have are not very helpful. "The shag differs from the cormorant in its smaller size and the lack of a white chin and thighs" and "lacks white patches of Cormorant but has yellow gape." It was only when I came across this in-depth article that my suspicion from today's photos was confirmed.

As well as the heron and cormorant there was also this fellow, the great crested grebe, taking his fill.

 

The scavenging gulls will take some smaller fish as will the kingfishers. In the end though there's not much left for this fellow when the birds have raided the larder.

 

 

Shag in a tree

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(This article contains multiple errors. This one contradicts them.)

Our seas are overfished. There was a time when the trawlers threw something back if it was not the main quarry. With modern fishing, which is much more scientific, they take the lot, and everything is separated on factory ships. Nothing goes to waste. It may not be the only reason but sea-birds like herring-gulls, black-backed gulls, black-headed gulls and even common terns have become residents of, or frequent visitors to, Birmingham lakes. Occasionally, when it is rough at sea, cormorants come too.

 

Cormorant on lake (Birmingham, John Goss 24/10/2014)

It is doubtful many people can tell the diference between a cormorant and a shag. These seabirds and able fishermen are almost look-alike members of the pelican family. In the bird kingdom both are monarchs with their regal dark-coloured cloaks. They are fliers and swimmers of similar shape and size. What is unusual about the next photograph is that it shows both a cormorant (on top) and a shag (underneath) in the same tree in Birmingham. Cormorants and shags are most usually found on craggy coastal rocks and normally do their fishing in the sea.

Cormorant (top) and shag (below) in same tree (Birmingham, John Goss 22/10/2014)

In spring it is much easier to tell the difference. The shag sports a crest and the cormorant has a patch of white on its thigh, which is lost following the mating season. After that the most evident distinguishing feature is a white area on the cormorant's face below the beak as can be seen in the first photograph. A shag does not have that patch of white. Here is a photograph of the Birmingham shag on the wing.

Shag in flight (Birmingham, John Goss 22/10/2014)

Another distinguishing feature can be found with the shag only having twelve tail feathers whereas the cormorant has fourteen. After fishing both birds dry their wings in the wind in a display which is eye-catching and heraldic, as one bird-book describes it. Here is the cormorant doing just that. You can clearly count the fourteen tail feathers.

Cormorant drying itself in the breeze (Birmingham, John Goss 23/10/2014)

In observing the cormorant it was noticeable that it sat low in the water and dived from that position with an arch of the back. It stayed under for about half a minute and made some fifteen dives (if I saw them all) before catching anything and flying back to its perch. The shag on the other hand was not as long away from its perch and flew beyond the range of my camera. It may be that the shag is a better fisherman. Here it is in the drying off display.

Shag drying itself in the breeze (Birmingham, John Goss 22/10/2014)

Cormorants are heavy birds which, as mentioned, sit low in the water. Getting airborne is quite an effort. For this cormorant it took three bounces on the water before lift-off and it looked like the bomb designed by Barnes Wallis in the Dambusters film.

 

 Cormorant 'bouncing back to happiness' (Birmingham, John Goss 23/10/2014) 

Learning about these two incredible and impressive dark angels of the sea has been an experience for this ancient mariner. The luck of having both birds to hand at the same time on a lake rather than the crags by a choppy sea has been a pleasure and I hope this short blog-piece has added something, however small, to the canon of knowledge. A bird in the hand is worth two in the tree, or something.

Gossip: Birdwatching - grey wagtail or origami owl?

Follow @JohnPlatinumG Gossip: Birdwatching - grey wagtail or origami owl?: My eyes are not as good as they used to be and this morning in wind that was not as strong as in some parts of the country, I spotted what a...

Birdwatching - grey wagtail or origami owl?

Follow @JohnPlatinumG My eyes are not as good as they used to be and this morning in wind that was not as strong as in some parts of the country, I spotted what appeared to be a grey wagtail with its tail wagging on a rock. There are lots of these beautiful birds along the River Cole. The photograph below is enlarged through the camera lens from what I could actually see.

In fact one afternoon in summer I sat on the bank for half an hour snapping lots of photographs of them. For those unfamiliar with what a grey wagtail looks like here is one of the photographs I took that day.

Most birds are shy and you have to be very quiet and careful not to disturb them. So I crept quietly round to the other side of the rock where I took this photograph. Although the bird appeared to be moving I wondered why it never flew away because I was making too much noise. By the time I was close enough to see it was paper that was causing the illusion I was rather disappointed that I had been duped. Looking more closely I noticed that the paper caught on the rock had arranged itself into the shape of an owl and the wind had caused the illusion of movement. Can you see the origami owl?

Despite that disappointment I did go on to capture a few birds before it was time to take the dogs home. The dogs get bored when I take photographs. Anyway I captured a chaffinch, a goldfinch, a dunnock and blackbird.Birmingham is teeming with wildlife.