Cormorants can get quite amazing colorations in their face as they reach adulthood...just a plain black looking bird from a distance with an orange-colored bill, up close you get to see the amazing jewel-like eyes, that remind me of what the protected shallow waters of a south-seas island look like from an airplane...and the bright orange bill on closer inspection reveals that the inside of the mouth is a bright blue color. Nice that in the Florida heat and humidity, they are often quite sedentary and will let you walk up to within a few feet of them without bother - letting you enjoy photographing their amazing color from the minimum focus distance of your lens! Shots taken with an A6300 mirrorless plus FE70-300mm F4.5-5.6 G OSS lens: Getting even closer, to really see that eye detail: This younger cormorant has the eye color, but hasn't developed the blue mouth, and still has more whitish feathers on the belly and body...plus his head is a bit oversized on his still growing body: A wider shot reveals just how bulbous that head is compared to the body:
I never really noticed those colors Justin. Either I don't have the reach or haven't seen too many I guess.
nice stuff. here if I get out of my car 50 ft away they take off right away as do most birds in NJ. having to use tele converters on my 600f4 is common