W. Albatross Courtship

Gallery: AvianPosted January 12, 2011119 views9 comments

Late on a cloudy afternoon in 2006 we came across these waved albatrosses while walking Isla Española in the Galapagos. They proceeded to bat their beaks together, back and forth like a chef sharpening a big knife. Then they'd lean back and mirror each other with open mouths. Thankfully, they repeated the act one more time, allowing me to get a photo from the proper angle.

Considering one can't stray from the trail in the islands, we were fortunate this happened so close to us. Bummer about the poo in the background, but a memorable shot nonetheless.

Canon 20D
Canon 100-400mm IS
ISO 400
1/320th
f/5.6

Max

Comments

9 comments

Comment posted by Mauro Pasquero on January 13, 2011 at 4:43 AM

Cool image, Max !
Mauro

Registered on January 21, 2010, 650 Posts, 2500 Comments

Comment posted by Randy Bacon on January 13, 2011 at 8:01 AM

Great capture of an interesting behavior - the symmetry is perfect and the details in the birds are well captured. Clearly the BG is a bit distracting, if you are so inclined, this could be cleaned up in PS which would bring the full focus of this shot back on to the fascinating birds.

Registered on November 24, 2008, 56 Posts, 492 Comments

Comment posted by Michael Twaddell on January 13, 2011 at 9:59 AM

The poo could be easily cloned out. I have seen on numerous nature shows that this is their courting behavior. I would love to see it someday. Nice image.

Registered on August 16, 2007, 199 Posts, 2132 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on January 13, 2011 at 2:57 PM

Good behavior shot, I just recently watch a BBC dvd on birds and I believe this to be a courting or welcome home routine, anyway a very nice entertaining shot.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on January 13, 2011 at 7:23 PM

I too love the symmetry in this composition.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on January 13, 2011 at 8:16 PM

Nice interaction and comp Max - like the symmetry between the to birds

cheers
Rob

Registered on November 8, 2003, 617 Posts, 8267 Comments

Comment posted by richard remington on January 13, 2011 at 8:47 PM

Max,

Very interesting picture of bird behavior. That is being in the right place at the right time.

Rick

Registered on March 12, 2010, 105 Posts, 368 Comments

Comment posted by Eric Diller on January 14, 2011 at 1:57 PM

I like everything about this shot except for the white blobs in the BG. Fantastic timing on this capture!

Registered on October 2, 2009, 69 Posts, 434 Comments

Comment posted by Dottie Short on January 14, 2011 at 6:01 PM

Symmetry in motion! Great shot! I think this image is worth the effort to clone out the poo. There is even an option in CS4 that will allow you to blur the BG more.

Registered on April 12, 2010, 61 Posts, 375 Comments