Looking up at a young green heron

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Looking up at a young green heron

August 9, 2015 by Mike Powell

Yesterday as I was exploring Ben Brennan Park, a suburban park in Alexandria, Virginia with a pond, I spotted a young Green Heron (Butorides virescens) in a tree. I took some initial shots and then was able to creep up to the tree and shoot almost directly up.

I have taken numerous photos of Green Herons, but this is the first time that I’ve ever taken a shot showing the underside of the bill. I love to shoot familiar subjects hoping to see them from new perspectives or engaging in interesting behavior.

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife | Tagged Alexandria VA, Ben Brennan Park, Butorides virescens, Canon 50D, green heron, juvenile Green Heron, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto | 11 Comments

11 Responses

on August 9, 2015 at 8:47 am | Reply Bella Remy Photography

Wonderful captures Michael and I do enjoy your different perspective. I’ve never heard of this park before. Need to definitely check it out.
- on August 10, 2015 at 6:03 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Emily. Ben Brennan Park is a large suburban park with athletic fields and a little pond. I initially went there in search of dragonflies and was thrilled when I saw the little Green Heron.
on August 9, 2015 at 9:05 am | Reply New Hampshire Garden Solutions

Nice shots. I’m surprised he let you get under him like that. In this area they’re extremely skittish.
- on August 10, 2015 at 6:01 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  I think it might the heron’s youth and inexperience that allowed me to get so close without scaring it away. Even when most of a species is skittish, sometimes there is a lot of variety among individual members in the degree to which they will tolerate our presence.
on August 9, 2015 at 10:52 am | Reply Lyle Krahn

It must be your advanced creeping skills that allow a shot like that.
- on August 10, 2015 at 5:58 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  You might imagine that I was all dressed up in camo gear and was moving like a ninja, but that would probably have been a bit too scary for the joggers and dog walkers in this busy suburban park. I did try to move slowly and quietly and this bird never gave an indication that it was aware of my presence (and it was still in the tree when I departed).
on August 9, 2015 at 1:24 pm | Reply Looking up at a young green heron | Gaia Gazette

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on August 9, 2015 at 1:40 pm | Reply krikitarts

You must have been beside yourself to be able to get these angles without spooking your subject. I really like Lyle’s comment about your advanced creeping skills–you must be able to move like a mantis, to be so able to be accepted as part of the environment.
- on August 10, 2015 at 5:55 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  I wish I had some super stealth skills like a ninja, but I think I lucked out in finding a bird that was a whole lot less skittish than usual (or was simply not paying any attention to what was going on in the vegetation below the tree).
on August 10, 2015 at 2:36 am | Reply svtakeiteasy

Great unusual perspective and details in the feathers. I can’t believed he let you get away with getting underneath him!
- on August 10, 2015 at 5:52 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks. I think this Green Heron is really young and has not yet developed the skittishness that more mature birds seem to possess. The heron was still in the tree when I left the area after getting my shots.