Gloria Grandolini
March 2025 - Snake Bird
About the Image(s)
This is an Oriental Darter drying its wings. Its nickname is snakebird. It is a water bird of tropical South East Asia. To feed itself it impales fish underwater with the long beak. I took this image last November in the Keoladeo Park in Rajasthan, India. The same park where the storks where. These birds, just like Cormorants, like to perch upright on a rock or a branch to dry their wings. I feel lucky I was able to get one posing for me at a relatively close distance.
Shot with Canon R5 handheld.
200 m (RF 70-200 f 2.8 L IS USM)
1/125 sec at f/22 ISO 500.
I used Lightroom denoise to enhance the sharpness a bit and adjusted whites and blacks.
2 comments posted
Gloria, the bird is known as the anhinga in the US and this is a male. It has their characteristic pose with open wings and facing the sun to dry the feathers since they have no oil glands to make the feathers waterproof. They are excellent underwater fishers. Also the pose is very elegant with the neck twisted and head looking the other way. The image is sharp. Posted: 03/09/2025 16:15:51
Nice capture of this snake bird. Loved the elegant pose with fanning of the tail feathers. Sharpness in critical areas with a nice crop and complimentary background. Posted: 03/10/2025 23:41:57