Cormorant and Gulls

I spent a couple of hours this morning at Falmer Pond. I wasn’t expecting much (I was really planning just to test out some new gear), but on arrival I spotted this beautiful cormorant perching on a rock at the edge of the water.

cormorant
Cormorant at Falmer Pond, East Sussex

I think I may have been disturbing a private moment though…

cormorant defecating

Those were both taken with the 100-400 lens, but I was interested in getting familiar with my 500mm lens and a new tripod head (Flexline). The beauty of the Flexline is that you set it up so that the horizon is always level, even when you start moving the lens around. And even better, the lens doesn’t creep! This won’t mean much if you’ve not used tripods, but ‘creep’ is a big issue and means constant alignment and readjustment with most systems. Anyway, the remainder of the shots here were taken with the longer lens, from a tripod. Using the Flexline was a delight.

A couple more of the cormorant…

cormorant

Cormorant

I did some gentle tracking (very easy and very smooth), including several shots of juvenile herring gulls.

juvenile herring gull with fish
Herring gull at Falmer Pond with fish
juvenile herring gull splashing
A bigger splash

The second species of gull at the pond is the black-headed gull, though most of them have now lost their chocolate brown breeding plumage and simply display a dark facial spot.

Black-headed gull at Falmer Pond, with fish
Black-headed gull at Falmer Pond, with fish

black-headed gull on rock

Back home the foxes were in and out of the garden this afternoon, including a visit by Pretty Vixen.

fox
Pretty Vixen

Camera note: all photos taken with the Canon 1DX Mark II and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens or EF 500mm f/4 IS II USM lens.

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This Post Has 4 Comments

  1. Aurora Stone

    15 Aug 2018

    Cormorants have very big feet. Love the one of Pretty Vixen. She’s a stunner!

    1. Words

      17 Aug 2018

      Thanks Aurora. I like cormorants so it was a treat to see one at the pond. Pretty is lovely!

  2. Darko

    16 Aug 2018

    It is obvious that your gear works just fine! And private moment is hilarious 😀

    San got me a tripod for birthday, FotoPro X4i-E Tripod with FPH-42Q Ball Head – Titanium. It is not as high tech as yours but is light and easy to fit in my back pack so I can take it with me whether it is a day hike or multi day back country camping.

    1. Words

      17 Aug 2018

      Darko, I’m getting used to using a tripod. It changes so much of how I do things, but it’s fun learning new tricks and makes using the big lens a lot easier. And I have to work out what I want to photograph first! Good luck with your kit. It looks nice and very portable.

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