(Little) black shag?

[smeerkat]

I find it hard to tell, the size isn't easy to estimate over sea but with so much black I doubted whether it'd be a regular Black Shag. The Little one would be a lifer for me so i figured I'd double check.. opinions?

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[Oscar Thomas]

Yellowish feet and a pale stripe from the face down the side of the body = spotted shag (non-breeding plumage). Both little black and black shags are entirely black (except juvenile blacks have some pale mottling on the breast) and have black feet.

[smeerkat]

Ohh, awesome! I saw it swimming later and it definitely had a pale stripe down the side of its neck, its just that my bird guide didn't have any reference pictures of spotted that were so black

Thanks!

[Oscar Thomas]

It looks like you saw the bird slightly backlight in low light, so yes it would look blacker.