Another from my northern travels. This common loon was doing the classic flap and head shake after preening for a few minutes. What caught my eye about this image were the small feathers which flew off as he shook. The head is just a bit blurry from the rotation effect. You can see the white 'necklace' feathers being thrown away from the body by the rotation of the head. The black and white mottling at the base of the bill comes from the beginning of its fall molt. The nictitating membrane is closed, hence the opaque looking eye. They almost always do close it during this maneuver, so I left it alone.
D700 500mm f/4 1.4 TC f/6.3 effective focal length 700 mm 1/1250s ISO 640 Pedestal mounted in the Loonatic
Post: PS CS4 Small crop for comp
The brightest white is set at 250, so pretty close to the edge.
Action well captured Randy. Apart from the sprayed water, I like how some of the feathers have flown off too. The closed eye doesnt bother me. Well captured.
Exuberance
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