Amorous King Penguins

[Ian Wilson]

After a satisfactory introduction, there is a period of head-flagging and antiphonal short calls followed by the 'advertisement walk'. The male leads the way to a quiet spot with a special gait and a pendulum motion of his head. This is when advanced courtship begins with high-pointing and head flagging, antiphonal duets of long calls and bowing toward each other. I found this pair on a pebble bank at the back of the beach party where they were going through their pre-copulatory moves. The image captures 'necking' behaviour where the male hooks his bill over the females neck during one of her bows. This is repeated a number of times with the female bowing lower and lower while the male gently presses her downward. When she is ready, the female slides to the ground and the male mounts her with difficulty, steadying himself occasionally by pinching her neck and pressing his flippers against her sides. This gorgeous couple allowed the voyeur to take many pictures but their modesty prevented them from 'going all the way' in front of the camera. The image is full frame with a little trimmed off the top and bottom.

Canon 5DIII + 300 mm f/2.8L II + 2x III extender, 600EX-RT, Gitzo 3532LS, Kirkphoto King Cobra gimbal.
Manual, f/13, 1/200 sec, ISO 250, 1/8 flash power.
Processed in DPP: crop, adjust brightness (+0.17), shad/h'lights, saturation, sharpen, RAW-TIFF. PS Elements: select birds, NR on background to reduce file size, remove a few grains of sand and flying insects, downsize and output sharpen, TIFF-JPEG.

Thanks for looking, critical feedback welcome.

[William Dickson]

Lovely image Ian, I love the colours, and the pose is beautiful. Well done.

[Steve Kaluski]

Gorgeous Ian!

BTW, I'm referring to the image. :w3

You are now making me question why I just turned down a fantastic offer for 3 weeks in this location in Oct/Nov. :Whoa!:

TFS
Steve

[Ian Wilson]

You are now making me question why I just turned down a fantastic offer for 3 weeks in this location in Oct/Nov. :Whoa!:

TFS
Steve[/QUOTE]

Thanks Steve. Macquarie Is is penguin 'central' but also has big colonies of other seabirds, Elephant Seal, smaller seal species, and even has a few resident orca that sometimes come right in close hunting for seals and penguins. Landings are by Zodiac and subject to weather as there are no jetties or sheltered harbours. IMO January-February is the best time to visit. I recommend you don't hesitate to say yes if you get another chance. Cheers, Ian

[Binu John]

Stunning shot, Ian! Love the composition, pose and BG! Thanks for sharing this beautiful shot!

[Steve Kaluski]

I recommend you don't hesitate to say yes if you get another chance.

Ian, the next one will not slip the net, that is for sure. :w3

[Pamela de Zilva]

Ian, How can one be critical of perfection.. Love it all. Looking forward to lots more great images from you. Thankyou Ian.

[Grace Scalzo]

Beyond wonderful, Ian. I have nothing but positives for this beautiful image. Thanks for sharing it with us, as well as your story.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Highly appealing image, very tender. I'm enjoying your captions too, very informative. Can't think of anything to improve here.

[Karl Egressy]

Sweet moment captured, Ian. A truly amazing image.

[Bill Dix]

Simply stunning. All has been said. Wonderful colors, pose, and moment. Amazing that you were able to get this virtually full frame. Keep 'em coming.

[Carl Day]

Love the interaction between the two birds, nicely timed and caught.

Cheers,

Carl.

[David Salem]

Calender material, or a warm postcard. Very nice capture.

[christopher galeski]

Beautiful moment captured here Ian,loverly color's and detail.well done.

[gail bisson]

Beautiful story and beautiful image.
Love everything about this shot.
keep them coming.
PS. your images may end up costing me many $$$$ as this trip edges its way higher and higher up the bucket list!!

[arash_hazeghi]

lovely interaction, pose and details

[Frank Schauf]

Excellent scene with nice light, details and bg.

[Ian Wilson]

Thanks everyone for your generous feedback and encouragement. Regards, Ian.