Friday 20 February 2009

Black swan washing - # 09/24

Still at the London Wetlands Centre in Barnes: here's an Australian black swan washing itself.

I took several frames of this bird going through the antics of twisting itself into amazing coils, reaching every part of its body in the cleaning operation. I missed the moments when water was showering in all directions, but this is my choice photo showing off the "contortions".

Perhaps I ought to have cropped out some of the water area, but at least the bird is in context and does not overwhelm the whole picture



7 comments:

  1. So this week you've gone from the sublime to the ridiculous? HA THis is amazing. I like the contortionist and the crop. Have a good weekend.
    V

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  2. It took me a while to understand the contortion... It must be great to have a long neck! :-) Great capture!

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  3. For the first couple of seconds when the photo opened I thought it was a crocodile's head emerging from murky water. Fun, eh?

    Chuckeroon I'm upset with myself because I haven't visited in a while and there are so many good pics I missed.

    I laughed out loud at your "cyclists dismount" sign at the bottom of the steep stairs, I loved your Chinese new year dragon (the girls playing the cymbals behind it didn't seem Chinese at all!).

    I was amazed by your "retreat from Moscow" photo (brilliant title!)and loved your coot on ice (I would have been tempted to post it upside down).

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  4. Your "walk gently into that sweet light" shot could have been taken along the Rhone.

    I liked your other comment though about our respective rivers flowing north to south vs. east to west and the spirit that derives from that...

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  5. In "my" park, one of the two black swans is not there any more. Is this where he / she is gone?

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  6. I agree with the tenor of Nathalie's comment, 'Roon. You have been painting with a camera of late. From the portal, I took this to be the image of a hippo with its mouth wide open ... duh!

    Swans are wonderful creatures to squat and watch for a while. It is good to have him in context and to see the swirls in the water.

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  7. This reminds me of an old episode I saw of QI - where they were speaking of woodpeckers.
    The woodpecker (apparently) has a really, really long tongue and to fit it all into his head when it's not out there catching stuff, he curls it around the back his brain!
    Fancy that.

    We got attacked by one of those swans once.
    It stuck its head through our car window and started viciously pecking us.
    B*st*rd.

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