Murray Head and the Cormorant

Hi Marie,

Sometimes everything magically comes together...

I have always wanted to get good photos of a Cormorant...

their azure jewel eye, and rich black feathers made such a wonderul subject.

Yet they were too far, the sun too bright which made the feathers look light gray

or the background just wrong... or not a great looking specimen.

But sometimes everything magically comes together... like today.

The moment serendipitous... and in this case dramatic

The subject amazingly beautiful... the best I have ever seen

He casually poses in a variety of ways...

The distance is right...

The background is right...

The light is right...

I went to the sailboat pond to photograph a duckling family.

All was peaceful and quiet... the ducks had just returned

to the float for a nice nap... meanwhile out it the middle of the

pond this cormorant was dive fishing too far to get the pictures

I wanted... soon what appeared to be periscope appeared near

the float... and then Splash!, He surfaced... The pictures tell

what happened...

But know the duck family decided that this would

be a good time for an afternoon swim and they did just that.

I had about 10 minutes with him as he preened and dried off...

and then when he was dry to fly... walked to the edge of the float

and off like a bat out of hell. Here are just a few pictures...

P.S.

If a reader double clicks on the image it should open larger. I did

this because the scale and detail are very important to appreciate

this fine feathered friend.

Murray

All photos by Murray Head taken at the Conservatory Waters [Model-boat Pond] on Wednesday, June 6, 2012