These guys spook so easily that I could rarely ever get close to the mature double crested cormorants when I was at Assateague Island the other week. Finally found one somewhat near the road so I sped up, got ahead of the guy, and followed him as he drifted towards then me as I figured he would he took right off. Lighting worked out perfectly and i'm really happy with these.
He sees me...and on a side note, I love how these birds have those dark green eyes, bright orange around the mouth, and then the markings on their beak, really makes for a neat looking face.
Off he goes, producing quite a wall of water
Those wings were beating really fast...
Another wing pose
Pretty nice wingspan...note feet back down in the water
Gliding away
Still watching me as he glides off
This is only around half the frames of the entire event too, took him a lot of effort to get airborn...
Nice series Jeremy, do you happen to know why the feet go back in the water? Surely that would afford more drag and attempt to pitch the bird nose down, seems like it would make hard work of taking off?
Great photo's though.
Mike
Mike, I believe i'd read that cormorants do not have that waterproof layer, allowing them to dive deeper, yet requiring them to stand up and dry out. My guess is since he was still completely soaked it probably took a lot of effort to get up and this poor guy barely made it. One of the shots where the focus was a hair off even has his wing tips dipping back down in the water.
