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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Eighty-three: Impressions of the Galapagos – an extended photo-essay > Mating Flightless Cormorants, Punta Espinosa, Fernandina Island, The Galapagos, Ecuador, 2012
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27-JUN-2012

Mating Flightless Cormorants, Punta Espinosa, Fernandina Island, The Galapagos, Ecuador, 2012

The Flightless Cormorant is noted for its elaborate mating rituals. There is much dancing and considerable bickering. The male presents the female with seaweed to build their nest. We did not catch the seaweed presentation, but we spent considerable time watching them negotiating various nuptial arrangements. In this image, I move in on a mating pair, revealing the turquoise eye of one of them, and abstracting its partner. The beaks are crossing, linking the pair in potential matrimony. The late afternoon brings both a bluish sheen and a golden crown to the head of the cormorant in the foreground, while the other fades to into the shadows.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2
1/500s f/5.6 at 200.0mm iso160 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Phil Douglis24-Jul-2012 19:10
I like your characterization of this image as "harmonious" Jenene. That's a perfect fit for the colors and subject juxtaposition here.
JSWaters24-Jul-2012 00:11
Such a harmonious image. The shadowed bird completes the pairing but also seems to be a reflection of the more prominent of the two. The background colors are a beautiful echo of the coloring of the birds themselves.
Jenene
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