In a San Diego valley pond in January, this double-crested cormorant struggled with its catfish catch. Each time the bird hoisted the fish out of the water in an attempt to swallow it, the weight of the fish caused the bird to sink below the surface. Repeated attempts over 20 minutes undoubtedly exhausted both parties, and then the two disappeared from view leaving the ultimate fate known only to bird and fish. (Canon D30 body on a Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L lens at 400mm, 1/250s at f/5.6, ISO 100, evaluative metering at zero, AI Servo AF, handheld with IS#1, cropped to 47%, then tonality and sharpness adjusted in PhotoShop.)

Dr. Benjamin Miller is an atmospheric research scientist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, at the University of California, San Diego. As an avid nature photographer, he specializes in the fauna of Southern and Central California. More of his fauna images can be viewed at http://gaslab.ucsd.edu/closerlook.

To learn more about other seabirds, browse the Seabird Flash Cards on the Seabird Page of this website.