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Cormorant Eating a Catfish

A couple of shots from a February trip to Florida. After shooting for the morning at the Anhinga Trail (Everglades, near Homestead), we were on the way out, and came across several people standing around shooting something on the grass along the path. As we got closer, we saw this Double-crested Cormorant attempting to eat a fairly large Catfish it had just caught.

It must have wrestled with this fish for a good 10 minutes or more (with Black Vultures at its side, trying to get a piece of the action), before finally getting it into a position where it was able to swallow it.

Canon 1D Mark IV
Canon 600L/f4 IS
ISO 1000, 1/1000 second, f/5.6 1st shot, ISO 400, 1/640 second, f/4 second shot


1D4_01657.jpg


1D4_01651.jpg
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
A couple of shots from a February trip to Florida. After shooting for the morning at the Anhinga Trail (Everglades, near Homestead), we were on the way out, and came across several people standing around shooting something on the grass along the path. As we got closer, we saw this Double-crested Cormorant attempting to eat a fairly large Catfish it had just caught.

It must have wrestled with this fish for a good 10 minutes or more (with Black Vultures at its side, trying to get a piece of the action), before finally getting it into a position where it was able to swallow it.

Canon 1D Mark IV
Canon 600L/f4 IS
ISO 400, 1/640 second, f/4



1D4_01651.jpg


Don,

What do they take for Alka-Seltzer, LOL? Amazing that the flesh is not macerated. do the birds have stones in their stomaches to help breakdown the intact fish?

I'm so impressed by that 600 f 4.0 L IS. Is that the latest "4 stops of stabilization"?

Asher
 

Paul Abbott

New member
Great shots, Don. You've given us an insight into the eating habits of these birds and I really wouldn't have thought that a bird this size could deal with a fish like that, amazing.
 
Thanks for the comments.

Asher this is the older version of the 600, with perhaps 2 to 3 stops of gain from the IS. Remember, this will only help with movement on the camera side of things; still have to keep the shutter fast enough to prevent blur from subject movement.

It really is amazing how large a fish various bird species can swallow!
 
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