EXIF should be unchanged by cropping. The 70mm focal length simply indicates that, since I was using a AF-P DX 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3G ED VR lens, the shot was taken with no zoom. FWIW, I also shot wide open...f/4.5.
This is a "gulp" of cormorants according to my extensive (10 minutes tops) research on the internet. Some good old boys here in Texas might just say that it's a passel of birds.