{"id":90402,"date":"2020-10-16T05:53:50","date_gmt":"2020-10-16T11:53:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=90402"},"modified":"2020-10-16T07:12:28","modified_gmt":"2020-10-16T13:12:28","slug":"cormorant-eyes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2020\/10\/16\/cormorant-eyes\/","title":{"rendered":"Cormorant Eyes"},"content":{"rendered":"

There’s something about those eyes.<\/p>\n

Several days ago while attempting to photograph Bushtits I had an unexplained problem with soft photos so the next day I visited a local pond to take some test shots. I judge sharpness in my photos best when my subjects are birds so my intention was to find one of the domestic Mallards that hang out on the pond and use it as a test subject.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

But within seconds after I arrived at the pond this immature Double-crested Cormorant popped up right in front of me and became my Mallard substitute. I’ll take a cormorant over a domestic Mallard any old day.<\/p>\n

I’m enchanted by cormorant eyes. I think they’re beautiful so when I get closeup shots of a cormorant I typically crop tightly on their eyes just to become bewitched again.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The color of their iris has variously been described as blue-green, turquoise or aquamarine but whatever word you use the color is unique, at least among the birds I photograph.<\/p>\n

I know of no other bird whose eye features so many concentric circles including the black pupil, two greenish colors within the iris, the eye ring and even the bulge of the eye as it emerges from the eye socket.<\/p>\n

The eyes of breeding adults can be even more striking and I’ve heard it said that the eyes of eastern cormorants are more colorful than those of our western birds although I don’t know if that’s true.<\/p>\n

In some circles cormorants don’t get a lot of respect because they’re so common and because of their propensity for eating sport fish like trout. At the pond where this photo was taken fisherpersons often look upon the cormorants with disdain bordering on hatred.<\/p>\n

But I’m fond of them, in part because of those eyes. They may not be Bette Davis Eyes<\/a><\/span><\/span> but I love’em.<\/p>\n

Ron<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Notes:<\/em><\/p>\n