One Of The Reasons ...

SCraig · Jul 6, 2014

An example of one of the reasons that bird photography can be so annoying sometimes:

I shot this photograph of a Double Crested Cormorant this morning.

A so-so shot, nothing special about it since I was on the bank of the lake shooting into the rising sun but I liked the "Golden Hour" appearance of the light.

There have been a pair of these birds hanging around this part of the lake lately and I wondered where the other one was. I was shooting through a bunch of trees so I took a couple of steps to the right to get a clear view and saw the second one right below me beside the lake bank. I managed to get two shots.

This is the first one:

And this is the second, less than a second later:

DarkShadow · Jul 6, 2014

LOL sorry.I know what you mean though, the frustration comes along with it.I like it though and anybody that knows a little of cormorant knows how quick they dive and how long they stay under or pop up way,way away. Like how much water it moved and splash.Very efficient birds and powerful IMO.Nice capture scott.

SCraig · Jul 6, 2014

Thanks, Dave. I have problems with Cormorants since this is only the second place around here that I've seen them. The other is a huge lake and they tend to stay well out from shore so no chance for a decent shot. I've seen this pair several times and one of them is frequently close to the bank but I always have to deal with harsh backlighting. I'd rather have that than shoot them from 500' away though so I've been trying to get a halfway decent shot of them. If I'd seen this one one or two seconds earlier, before it saw me, I might have gotten something worthwhile.

Sigh .. just one of the frustrations of chasing birds

pjaye · Jul 6, 2014

I can't even get a shot of the comorants around here. They seem to sense when I'm near and take off.

I do however have several of the last shot you posted of loons. They do the same thing.

baturn · Jul 6, 2014

Like loons the cormorants around here are very difficult to approach close enough for decent shots. Within the context of your post, I think the splash is a great shot.

annamaria · Jul 6, 2014

The splash shot is pretty neat.

SCraig · Jul 6, 2014

symplybarb said:
I can't even get a shot of the comorants around here. They seem to sense when I'm near and take off.

I do however have several of the last shot you posted of loons. They do the same thing.

They do the same thing to me frequently. They are really shy and don't like people close to them. The one close to the bank went underwater as soon as it saw me which is why I only got one shot.

The Loon shot wasn't mine, unfortunately, since it is a good one.

baturn said:
Like loons the cormorants around here are very difficult to approach close enough for decent shots. Within the context of your post, I think the splash is a great shot.

spanishgirleyes said:
The splash shot is pretty neat.

Thanks guys. I started to just delete it from my camera but then decided it did put the first shot into context a bit

robbins.photo · Jul 6, 2014

I think this is why I like Pelican's so much - they are about the most ungraceful, ungainly birds imaginable and as a result they are about as far from "zippy" as you can get.. lol.

Great shots though, and a great story to go with them. I actually really love the splash shot knowing the background behind it. Fantastic set!

SCraig · Jul 6, 2014

robbins.photo said:
I think this is why I like Pelican's so much - they are about the most ungraceful, ungainly birds imaginable and as a result they are about as far from "zippy" as you can get.. lol.

Great shots though, and a great story to go with them. I actually really love the splash shot knowing the background behind it. Fantastic set!

Thanks, Robbins. I appreciate the comment.

Good point regarding Pelicans! I love to watch and photograph them when I'm in Florida. They are ungainly and ungraceful on the ground, but in the air they are so different. The way they can circle over a fish, twist into a dive and then come up with it in their beak fascinated me for some reason.

snerd · Jul 6, 2014

Nice one! I posted a shot of 3 juvenile cormorants from clear across the lake, I believe it was last year, and I had NO idea what they were! I had never seen one before, I thought they were young buzzards LOL!!

SCraig · Jul 6, 2014

snerd said:
Nice one! I posted a shot of 3 juvenile cormorants from clear across the lake, I believe it was last year, and I had NO idea what they were! I had never seen one before, I thought they were young buzzards LOL!!

Thanks! They are interesting looking birds in the water. They swim with their body so low in the water that sometimes all that can be seen is the neck and head. From a distance they can look like a snake swimming with its head up