Eye to eye
Neotropic Cormorant (Phalacrocorax brasilianus)
A knife and fork anyone? We can use utensils to make perfect bits out of a larger piece of food, li...
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Neotropic Cormorant (Phalacrocorax brasilianus)
A knife and fork anyone? We can use utensils to make perfect bits out of a larger piece of food, like this fish. The ravenous cormorant is able to catch vary large fish compared to its size, but will sometimes have a hard time swallowing it, as is the case here. This catfish has sharp fins, and is wide and short, compared to long slender fishes – like eels.
During this “what do I do” phase, the cormorant is open to attacks by food thieves and must assess whether or not it’s safest out in the open, or inside thickets and water hyacinths. Neither place is really safe over time, but if lucky it will be able to gobble up in time before anyone notices it’s vulnerable. If not so, it must let go of the catch in time to either dive or fly away.
It chose to hide in the dense population of hyacinths and plants, so I don’t know whether or not it managed to swallow it – my bet is it succeeded.
Read less
A knife and fork anyone? We can use utensils to make perfect bits out of a larger piece of food, like this fish. The ravenous cormorant is able to catch vary large fish compared to its size, but will sometimes have a hard time swallowing it, as is the case here. This catfish has sharp fins, and is wide and short, compared to long slender fishes – like eels.
During this “what do I do” phase, the cormorant is open to attacks by food thieves and must assess whether or not it’s safest out in the open, or inside thickets and water hyacinths. Neither place is really safe over time, but if lucky it will be able to gobble up in time before anyone notices it’s vulnerable. If not so, it must let go of the catch in time to either dive or fly away.
It chose to hide in the dense population of hyacinths and plants, so I don’t know whether or not it managed to swallow it – my bet is it succeeded.
Read less
Sep, 2016Views
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Awards
Contest Finalist in Above Or Below Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in The Food Chain Photo Contest
Peer Award
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NevenPisacic
September 04, 2016
Who hasn`t tried to take a picture like this has no idea how hard it is to get something like this. Superb. :) Congrats. :)
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mortenross
September 04, 2016
Many thanks for your kind words Neven! It is definitely not something you snap first time you try :-)
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
This is from the seasonal river on the doorstep of SouthWild Pantanal lodge in the north of Pantanal, Brazil.Time
Shot 3 December 2014 at 16:30Lighting
The cormorant was mowing away from the open water where it had caught the fish and into the thickets and shade to be able to successfully swallow the valuable catch. This meant a constant shift in reflections on the water as well as light.Equipment
Nikon D4s, Nikkor 500mm with 1.4 converter with 700 mm total on a Gitzo GT5542LS tripod and a WH-200 Wimberley HeadInspiration
To capture an opportunity like this cannot be planned, no matter how high the inspiration is to do so. It's all about patience, being ready for surprises, but also getting to know the locals and have them share their knowledge of where wildlife is regularly seen feeding, in this case the cormorants. Sometimes you might be waiting for a particular species only to see something completely different happening, being ready for the surprises is really important, as nature is what it is. I have seen countless cormorants during my trips, but only rarely have I had close encounters like this.Editing
Minor adjustments to contrast, highlights, shadows, whites, blacks, clarity, vibrance and saturation.In my camera bag
Two houses (currently D4s and D850) Nikkor: 800mm, 24-70mm, 105mm, Formatt Hitech filters for landscape, fiber cloth, lots of spare batteries, head lamp, lots of memory cards, external hard disk, notebook, LensCoat raingear for all lenses and houses.Feedback
Get down to the level of your subject - capturing their perspective is much more interesting. In this case I was in a boat, which is perhaps the best way to explore the Pantanal, as you can glide silently when needed and come real close to the amazing animals there.
