Telling A Story - The Prehistoric Birds

Art is more enjoyable if it tells a story and photography is no different.  If we can tell a story with our photos then people will be more interested and may find the photo(s) more compelling.

Sometimes the story is best told using a sequence of photos to show action or behavior of the subject.  I recently caught a family of Double-crested Cormorants in South Florida and was able to capture them doing what all families do - eat together.

A Cormorant is a common bird in Florida with some birds staying year long. The gangly Double-crested Cormorant is a prehistoric-looking black bird with green eyes and yellow-orange on its beak and face. They have been described as a strange combination of a goose and a loon.  The Cormorants are related to the exotic frigatebirds and boobies found in the Galapagos Islands. You have probably spotted one with its wings spread out to dry in the sun. They dive underwater and are excellent swimmers, using their feet and wings to propel themselves after fish.

This pair of adults had gotten an early start on the rest of the birds and already had two juveniles in the nest.  The parents seemed to be holding their heads high signaling they were proud of their little ones.

The Happy Family At Home

Like any home, repairs are required to be performed constantly.  They were adding nesting material to their nest.

There is always work to be done to maintain a home

Just like human youth, these juveniles were constantly hungry.

Mom! Dad! We're Hungry! 

No fast food for these kids.  The parents had to catch and prepare the meals.  This involved eating, partially digesting and regurgitating fish for the young'uns.

Yum Yum Yum

Wait, I know there is more fish down there.

Finished!

This adult may be leaving the nest in search of more food or may have had enough of junior climbing down his throat.

I hope you found this little photographic sequence educational, entertaining, or at least funny.  My intent was to tell more of the story than what can be conveyed in just one photo.

All the photos were taken at the Wakodahatchee Wetlands in Delray Beach, Florida.  They were shot with a Fuji X-T2 mirrorless camera and a 100-400mm zoom at 400mm.  The photos were cropped by about 1/3.