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Juvenile Little Black Shag


Juvenile Little Black Shag
Photo Information
Copyright: Pam Russell (coasties) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3815 W: 505 N: 8095] (27712)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2006-01-29
Categories: Birds
Camera: Canon EOS 20D, Canon EF 100-400mm L IS USM, Digital RAW 100, Hoya UV 77mm
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2006-01-31 3:54
Viewed: 1003
Points: 30
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
Little Black Shag

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Pelecaniformes
Family: Phalacrocoracidae
Genera: Phalacrocorax
Species: sulcirostris

Other common names: Little black cormorant.

Description: Native bird, 61 cm., 800 g., wholly black with green gloss, eye green.

Where to find: Large colonies in the Auckland, Waikato, Rotorua lakes, Lake Taupo, Hawke’s Bay and Lake Wairarapa wetlands. A rare visitor to the South Island.

The Little Black Shag is a small, slim, totally black cormorant with a greenish sheen to the back and a slender grey hooked bill.

In the breeding season, adults have fine white flecks on the head and neck and the green tinge becomes more bronze. This species congregates in larger flocks than other shags and flies in V-shaped formations.

Habitat: The Little Black Cormorant is mainly found in freshwater wetlands, but will sometimes be found on sheltered coastal waters, and can use relatively small, deep water bodies. It is strongly aquatic, seldom being seen on dry land, but is often seen resting on rocks, jetties and other perches in water.

Feeding: The Little Black Cormorant feeds on fish, crustaceans and aquatic insects. It catches prey underwater, by diving and swimming using its large, fully webbed feet for propulsion. It has special nictitating membranes that cover and protect the eyes underwater. As their feathers are not waterproof, cormorants are regularly seen perched with their wings outstretched to dry after fishing.

Breeding: The Little Black Cormorant nests colonially, often on the fringes of heron or ibis colonies, building large stick nests in the fork of a tree or on the ground. Both sexes share nest-building, incubation and feeding of the young.

The above obtained from www.nzbirds.com & www.birdsinbackyards.net/finder/display.cfm?id=197

IMAGE INFORMATION

Camera: Canon 20D
Time of day: 5:06 p.m.
Date: 29th January 2006
Weather conditions: Clear
Lens: Canon 100-400mm L IS
Filter: Hoya 77mm UV
Shutter Speed: 1/640
F-Stop: F/5.6
Focal Length: 400mm
ISO: 100
Original file type: Digital Raw
wallhalla15, honza, scottevers7, samos, Dizzy, cedryk, dew77, marhowie has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To Dizzy: How do you do that? ;-)coasties 1 01-31 17:32
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Critiques [Translate]

Hello Pam,
pose is excellent, great work. Very good sharpness, details, colours and composition. Thanks for sharing.

  • Great 
  • manyee Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3065 W: 231 N: 6160] (21048)
  • [2006-01-31 4:08]

An excellent capture of the shag, Pam, and on the nest no less.
Congratulations and TFS. ; )

Hi Pam,
Very nice capture. Excellent feather detail, lovely timing.
TFS
Paul

  • Great 
  • Dando Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor [C: 637 W: 32 N: 792] (3084)
  • [2006-01-31 4:38]

Nice composition Pam. Good focus, colour, detail and POV. TFS.
Dean.

  • Great 
  • honza Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 537 W: 0 N: 716] (4191)
  • [2006-01-31 4:40]

Excellent shot of the bird. Perfect composition, very nice sharpness and colors, framing is perfect to.

Hi Pam,
The little one looks like he is exercising his lungs. A very difficult exposure with the dark bird and the bright backround, but you did a great job with it. The colors and detail look excellent. Well done.
Scott

  • Great 
  • jossim Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1575 W: 5 N: 2181] (12250)
  • [2006-01-31 7:43]

Une belle composition,j'aime bien la pose de l'oiseau le bec grand ouvert.Félicitations pour l'éclairage et les détails dans le plumage de l'oiseau.

Merci Pam!

joseph

Hi Pam,
Very nice captured!
The pose is excellent, great colours and sharp details.
Thanks for sharing!

  • Great 
  • tinman Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 242 W: 7 N: 458] (2663)
  • [2006-01-31 10:04]

Lovely post - nice pose and attitude, good framing and composition. Well done

  • Great 
  • Dizzy (16)
  • [2006-01-31 12:48]
  • [+]

Pam,

This is superb! Normally I'd like to see some life in the sky but its plainess here is a definite advantage (whether natural or by PP).

I notice that everything that should be in sharp focus is exactly so, whereas everything that is unimportant to the image is blurred. Excellent!

I've noticed that almost all of your bird and mammal images show them facing to the left. How do you do that? ;-)

hi pam
bons details et couleurs,bons POV et bel encadrement.
laurent

  • Great 
  • cedryk Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 966 W: 52 N: 1694] (5184)
  • [2006-01-31 21:24]

Hello Pam,
Very nice POV on this juvenile shag. How did you climbe that high!? :-)
Best greetings,
Michal

  • Great 
  • livios Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2156 W: 322 N: 4258] (16906)
  • [2006-01-31 21:27]

Pam, very nice; this is great.

As usual, excellent sharpness, pov and composition. A lovely moment.

  • Great 
  • dew77 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 4774 W: 294 N: 4020] (13209)
  • [2006-02-01 13:10]

Hello Pam!
Very nice capture.POV,pose of shag,lighting,
details,sharpness and composition are perfect.
TFS...:-)

Cool shot Pam, I like the vertical comp, open beak pose and POV here. Well done!

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