Immature Double-crested Cormorant landing on a pond – Nikon D500, f8, 1/2500, ISO 640, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
Yesterday afternoon I was photographing a Great Blue Heron close to home when I noticed a familiar figure walking on the other side of the pond. There is a woman who seems to walk her large dog around the pond at about the same time every day, the thing is that she frequently doesn’t leash her dog even though the signs at the pond state that it is required. I don’t know why she thinks that is okay at all because her dog scares the birds that are resting on the shore of the pond and she must certainly see them all taking flight in front of her dog. It would be very hard to miss.
Yesterday afternoon the woman’s dog scared up an immature Double-crested Cormorant which had been sunning at the shoreline who then took flight and flew towards the center of the pond. I was able to lock on and photograph the young Double-crested Cormorant as it prepared to land on the cold, blue waters of the pond and the safety it provided.
This immature Double-crested Cormorant appears to be molting and probably needs all the rest it can get because of the molt and because winter is hard on these overwintering cormorants.
Immature Double-crested Cormorant splash down – Nikon D500, f8, 1/2500, ISO 640, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
The young Double-crested Cormorant splashed down safely in the middle of the pond far from the reach of the unleashed dog. There was another immature cormorant on the other end of the pond and it probably flew towards the safety of the open water when the woman and her dog walked past it but by that time I was heading home and wouldn’t have seen it.
I did enjoy photographing a few other birds besides this cormorant and I will share those photos soon.
Life is good.
Mia
Click here to see more of my Double-crested Cormorant photos plus facts and information about this species.
Sigh. Rules which only apply to other people. We often see people chasing the kangaroos, swans and ducks in a similarly marked park (despite there being a dedicated dog park nearby.
Some real sharp pictures and colors are good.
Nice catches! Some people feel they are above signs…too bad.