There are still some beautiful fall colors in the valley, especially when they’re bathed in warm morning or evening light, and late yesterday afternoon I actually succeeded in capturing some of them in the background of this four image series of a juvenile Double-crested Cormorant in flight.
1/2500, f/5.6, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
The cormorant was ascending after recently taking off from the water, thus all the water droplets on its belly and elsewhere.
In these first two shots in the series the bird is still some distance from me so there’s slightly less detail and the images aren’t quite tack sharp but I still wanted to include them.
Many if not most of the deciduous trees in my area have lost all of their leaves by now but I managed to capture three images as the bird passed in front of a large willow tree that still has most of its fall foliage. I’m not fond of many of the backgrounds below the horizon in this area so the flight path of the cormorant provided a fairly unusual and very welcome opportunity.
1/2500, f/5.6, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
With their wings in a horizontal position cormorants have quite an impressive wingspan.
1/2500, f/5.6, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
This is one of the last shots I got before the cormorant was past the willow.
1/2500, f/5.6, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
And then the background changed dramatically but I still like it a lot. I’ve always been a very big fan of atypical backgrounds when they’re pleasing to the eye and I think these fit the bill. I do wish I had just a little more room up top for a slightly improved composition though.
Damn, it was fun to finally find some cooperative birds again! Yesterday morning I drove 240+ miles over 5 hours looking for birds and only took five (count’em 5!) long-distance ID shots of various sparrows that all ended up in the trash heap. That was extremely discouraging but after arriving home and taking a nap to take my mind off of my frustrations I decided to go against my grain and try shooting in the late afternoon at a much closer location where I took 695 shots in exactly an hour and I like quite a few of them.
I’ve heard that birds are unpredictable. I guess it’s true.
Ron
Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like (close to) home. 😉 I don’t think I’ve seen many (if any) images of Cormorants in flight. I’m used to seeing them in large groups and settled on rocks. I really like the warm afternoon light.
Yup, that no place like home thing worked for me this time. Thanks, Marty.
I never realized how rotund they are. Whatever he eats he seems to be getting plenty of it.
They eat fish almost exclusively, Lyle.
Amazing photos. What a wingspan is right! Glad you had some success after your nap. 240 miles is a long trip with no success.
Thank you, Ron
It sure was, Alice – a real downer. Thanks.
Glorious colours.
And how I long to be a bird (though I suspect I would be uncooperative).
Thanks Ron.
Ha, I’ll bet you would be too, EC! As would I.
I’m sure I’d be an Albatross, EC. 😉
Great photos Ron. I so seldom see that type of bird flying. I will be real busy the next few days, so in case I don’t get in here, have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
I hope you have a great one too, Jean. Thanks.+
Nice series…Especially like the second shot…looks so free..
Thanks, Patty.
It is a beautiful shot. The warmth of light really makes the colors POP.
I’m not sure which shot you’re referring to but thank you, Arwen.
Great shot of a DC Cormorant! I agree that the background brings out the feather detail, some of the best shots of a flying DC Cormorant I have seen.
We had a 5″ snowfall a few days ago, melted down to about 2 inches on the ground at the moment! It was dam cold then changed to balmy with very POOR light. Few birds at the feeders.
Days like this bring about my pessimism about avian populations and getting out to photograph.
Sorry about pouting, love your cormorant shots!
I share your pessimism, Dick. That’s part of the reason I was so delighted to find some cooperative birds yesterday. Thank you.
Very nice Ron. Beautiful shades of color and just enough sun to catch the eye. The sun hitting the wet body illuminates it much more than had it not just flown out of the water. I’ve taken lots of Double-crested Cormorant still photos, but have never tried one in flight. We have many here so might be time for me to give it a try.
Everett Sanborn, Prescott AZ
Give it a shot, Everett. They’re not particularly fast flyers especially when lifting off of the water so I’ll bet you could do it with a little practice.
I know it’s early in the week, but I wanted to take time to offer thanks for your blog: the birds, the skills, the added information that’s so valuable. I really do appreciate it, even though I rarely comment — it adds so much to my life. Happy Thanksgiving!
What a nice comment, Shoreacres. Very much appreciated.
Little change of pace never hurts! 😉 Beautiful bird and background! 🙂 The warm background and warm browns in the bird are VERY appealing.. 🙂 Appears it may have an old injury on the left side of it’s neck and towards it left wing? Your storm must have amounted to nothing? Chinook time of sorts again..
I’m not sure about the possible injury you mention, Judy. Could be.
Nope, our storm mostly pooped out. Lots of clouds for a while and a few spits and that was about it. Maybe they got a little snow in the mountains but I haven’t heard.
Love that third shot…actually the fourth one also. I’ve never noticed the detail in the underwing before. It must be the way the sun was catching the feathers…they look like finely woven silk with that sheen. Such an interesting bird to watch….to see them all standing about with their wings outstretched drying is a sight to behold. The background is great in the fourth photo…the effect of the ‘rays’ radiating from the bird is stunning…couldn’t plan that if you wanted to!
Kathy, those last two shots are my favorites also.
Yes, the sun was only a little above the horizon when the series was taken so the low angle of light really brings out the feather detail in that wing and puts warm light on it.
I think the “rays” you mention are out of focus tree branches and good eye to notice that they radiate from the bird. That appeals to me very much too.
That makes sense…the more I look at this photo the more I love it! Stunning…the sun hitting the upper breast…❤️