Cormorant Close-up

Took this shot while visiting my son and grandsons in Boston two weeks ago. We were visiting Walden Pond for a pleasant stroll during late afternoon when I got into trouble for ignoring them after I spotted this Double Crested Cormorant and proceeded to spend about 30 minutes trying to get as close as possible without spooking it.

It was perched on a wall on the edge of the pond and I was getting quite close when some guy walking past thought he would get in on the act with his mobile phone. He spooked it of course and it dived into the water. Cursing I almost gave up but he lost interest and it started to swim back to its perch. This was about as close as I got but the light was very poor and fading fast. Without a tripod I was lying flat on the ground resting my gear on my baseball cap on the shallow wall. This was taken with a 70-200mm + 1.4x at 235mm at 1/30 sec, f8 to get he whole head in focus. ISO640 and full frame shot.

Not the prettiest bird in the world but I was just amazed at being able to get so close (about 5-6 feet) after many abortive attempts in the UK. Are they tamer in the US? I would be interested to hear of similar experences with this bird.

Anyway I have hundreds of shots of my grandsons so what’s 30 minutes. LOL.

All comments welcome and be sure to view large.

Brian.

Title:	Cormorant Close-up
Username:	brian usher
Uploaded:	7 Dec 2006 - 12:13 PM
Camera:	Canon EOS 5D
Lens:	70-200mm + 1.4x
Recording media:	Digital
Tags:	Close-up / macro, Cormorant, Double crested, Walden pond, Wildlife / nature
Votes:	19