For some reason I seldom like my photos of this species very much but I do like this one.
1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 640, Canon 7D, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 248mm, not baited, set up or called in
Two days ago while I was photographing other birds farther out on the water this juvenile Double-crested Cormorant popped up out of the water right in front of me and began sunning on a rock next to the shore. It was much too close for my big lens so I grabbed my 100-400 zoom and fired away as it groomed, spread its wings and flapped them often. It was facing away from me so most of my photos will end up in the delete bin but I think I got lucky with this one.
Here I like the sunning, spread-eagle pose, the early morning light, the mix of dark water and lighter rocks in the setting and the placement of the bird against the background (with dark water directly behind most of the cormorant instead of bright rocks). But I have pretty much the same things in a lot of my photos of this bird so what sets this one apart? For me it’s that perfect head turn combined with the appealing S-curve of the neck. With this head angle I have a great look at the eye in wonderful light and the brightness of the orange-yellow facial skin against the dark bird and background attracts the viewer’s eye right to where it should be – the face and eye of the bird.
That’s not to say this photo doesn’t have any checks in the minus column. My shooting angle is somewhat steep and I’m not happy with that green stem stabbing the bird right between the eyes.
But no photo is perfect and this one is likely to become one of my favorite cormorant shots.
Ron
Some unrelated links that readers may be interested in:
- Bison attack on Antelope Island a few days ago.
- Readers sometimes ask me why I don’t enter photo contests. I don’t enter them for a variety of reasons but the rampant cheating in many those contests is right at the top of the list. Here’s another recent example if you’re interested. At least this guy got caught but all too often they get away with it.
That is a great shot. The first time I ever saw one doing this pose was in Georgia. We were flying down the highway, and the person driving hits the brakes, backs up on the shoulder to where we could see a cormorant sunning and asks if we know what it is doing. The other person I was with says “Scoping for Babes?” The driver then explained that since they dive for fish and such, their feathers get wet, so the stand in that pose to get dry so they can fly. I don’t think I have ever seen a cormorant since that I do not think back to that. Ha ha.
I feel for the hiker wonder if he just got too close? Out in the open would be scary with not place to run to.
Great pose and light. It is very rare that I get that close. I just saw about the bison attack and will go to that next to read it. oh yes, I live 45 min away from elk Island National Park where they raise Plains and Woodland bison and ship them all over the world- seen some real dumb-ass moves.
Thanks, Jane. With too many people wildlife and “dumb-ass” go together.
My goodness what a neat picture of the Cormorant. Never heard of them and it is a pretty Bird, I need to google it on the internet.
There’s lots to learn about them, Trudy. In many ways they’re kind of…. strange.
Love the cormorant soaking up the sun.
I can only assume that the bison felt threatened. And my grumpy self knows where her sympathies lie.
Hooray for cheaters being stripped of their awards, something I would like to see a LOT more.
“something I would like to see a LOT more”
Boy, me too, EC. Contests, including prestigious ones, have been very lax in enforcing their own rules which just encourages others to cheat which significantly diminishes the chances that an honest and ethical photographer can win.
I would like to see it extended into other areas too. Cheats not only survive but thrive in too many areas.
Amen, my friend!!!
Amen to the Amen!!!! Beautiful image of bird!!! (Am in a state of shock,though, that YOU like it, too!!!) Hope the Bison’s moving target makes it OK…One turned over a careless tourist’s VW Bug several years ago…he was grazing by the road, she got out to take a picture…he took offense…she hid behind her overturned car and had to wait until another car showed up and rescued her.
I love the pose. Seeing feathers like this on cormorants has led to a misconception about them that I see repeated about them too often. Because the feathers are wet, there is the misbelief that they don’t have a uropygial (preen) gland. Nothing could be further from the truth. Their preen gland is simple in structure compared to songbirds but it works quite well. I mentioned the other day that it is the fine structure of the feather that really provides the water-proofing, not preen gland secretions. In cormorants, the wing feathers are wettable because the feather barbs are spaced well enough apart to allow water to penetrate. This allows them to force the air out of the wings, thus making the bird less buoyant and able get underwater more easily. They hold the wings out to help dry them but they are perfectly capable of flight even with wet feathers. The rest of the body has very tightly constructed feather structure and are very water-proof. Otherwise, they would not be able to survive the cold temperatures of our oceans and many lakes.
These are fascinating birds and all-to-often are villified by fishermen and others.
Dan, I used to believe that misconception about them not having a preen gland until someone set me straight, I believe on one of my blog posts.
Thanks for the excellent lesson on cormorants.
That coy over-the-shoulder look makes me think of Mae West. “Hey, big boy. Why doncha come up and see me sometime?” 😏
And I’m with Dick — if people who should know better still insist on acting like idiots, they’ve earned their Darwin Award (or honorable mention). I just don’t like to see collateral damage.
Mae West, now there’s a memory! And I agree about the coy look – in fact I almost used that word in my text.
The Cormorant’s pose evokes a black halo to me. They overwinter here in Puget Sound so are common, but this is a very captivating shot.
I suspected you put the green stem in the photo to make it look more authentic 😉
Animals are maimed and killed every day by humans-intentionally or not- but let the table be turned just once and it’s headline news.
Believe me, I’d like to vamoose that green stem, Lyle!
Your last sentence makes an excellent point.
Ron, that is a beautiful photo of one of my favorite birds. Murphy stayed away and allowed the Cormorant to turn his head perfectly into the light. Photos of them coming out of the water are always best and this one is special. We have hundreds of them here. Fish & Game stock four of our lakes on a regular basis so they are a major attraction for the Cormorants. At Lynx Lake we have one very tall snag tree that the Cormorants will rest on when not fishing. There will often be 20 or more on the tree and it is so funny to watch when one of the Eagles decides to land on top. The 20 Cormorants will be gone in less than 5 seconds. But when an Osprey lands on top they hardly even take the time to look at it.
Thanks for the Bison attack story and the disqualified photographer story. Unlike yours so many of the best wildlife photos we see have indeed been baited, set up, or called in as well as artfully manipulated.
Everett Sanborn, Prescott AZ
It’s always interesting to see how well birds can distinguish predatory species from those who pose no danger to them. A careful observer will see that most birds are obviously very good at it. Thanks, Everett.
Great shot Ron!
Charlotte
Thanks, Charlotte.
Beautiful photo of the Cormorant 🙂 They do tend to be large “ugly” birds BUT! Glad the hiker survived the Bison attack. There are many others who should have gotten “the treatment” for deliberately trying to interact with them. To Dick’s point my siblings used to hike Glacier and always had bells on their packs for the same reason…….. Finally “saw” a couple of the Avocets in breeding colors in a prairie pothole the other day – paying attention…. 😉
Thanks, Judy. The scariest experience I had with grizzlies was on the lakeshore of Lower Two Medicine right outside of Glacier NP. Made my little heart go pitter pat for a good long time.
I’m a tour guide in Banff national park, Canadian Rockies. People get out of their cars to get a selfie with a feeding bear. We shake our heads. And when told to return to their vehicles,can’t understand why.
I’m not surprised, Joan. The same thing happens regularly down here.
The sun glistening on the feathers really appeals to me! Off to read about the bison attack. I hope they won. (Sorry…)
Bison rarely if ever lose in these encounters (unless they’re killed by authorities as a result).
I agree with the appeal of the photo; it is aa beautiful setting for the bird. One other thing that really draws my eye is the wetness of the feathers. To me it adds an element that makes my eye look longer at the wings, tail, head…plus the sheen. Each feather stands out. I certainly would call this a winner. On another note…I am suspect of so many photos that I see in contests…so much can be manipulated that I usually don’t pay much attention to them anymore. ( This morning’s photo entered in a contest most likely would have that green stem removed immediately.) That young man is lucky…after photographing bison and seeing their size i would avoid any chance encounter.
Thank you, Kathy.
I’ve long advocated for photo contests to require that the entrants submit the RAW file of their photo as much stronger evidence of what was in the original photo since RAW files are much more difficult (though not impossible) to manipulate. Finally, some of the more prestigious contests are beginning to require exactly that.
Nice shot Ron, gotta dry those wings.
However, in my mind, thanks for posting the “Bison attack” and the “photo contest cheat.” Very, very interesting.
I have similar reasons for not entering contests besides the fact I’m not good enough!
Thanks, Dick. You’d be amazed at some of the absolutely idiotic things I’ve seen tourists do with bison on the island – often with a point and shoot camera in their hands. You can see two examples at the end of this very long post:
https://www.featheredphotography.com/blog/2012/04/19/behaving-badly-on-antelope-island/
And here’s another one:
https://www.featheredphotography.com/blog/2012/10/02/another-act-of-idiocy-on-antelope-island/
I have a lot of empathy for the hiker and his run-in with the bison, that certainly was unfortunate. We all take a chance when we walk/run in wildlife country. No different when I was hiking in Glacier Nat. Park, whistling and making noise so that any Grizzly in the area would hear me.
Many thanks for the two examples! When people don’t pay attention to printed and people advice, I’m always in favor of wildlife winning! Probably not popular, but if people insist on being stupid than they deserve what they get.
Again thanks for the two addendum.