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Intimate Details

A juvenile Double-Crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) preens its feathers after hunting underwater. Cormorants lack hydrophobic oil on their feathers which help them swim better...however, it also makes them soaked and unable to fly well after fishing. Thus, they usually spend a decent amount of time after foraging to dry their wings and preen.

 

I had envisaged this image for weeks. When I finally found a cormorant that was busy preening, I took the opportunity to creep close and snap this intimate portrait.

 

Palm Beach county, FL

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Uploaded on May 13, 2016
Taken on May 4, 2016