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Posts Tagged ‘heron’

Crouching heron

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , on November 4, 2013| 6 Comments »

Saturday, I went out with fellow photographer Cindy Dyer to take photographs of the fall foliage and we stopped at a little suburban pond, where I managed to get this close-up shot of a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) crouching at the edge of the water. If you want to see some awesome shots of the fall colors in Northern Virginia, check out Cindy’s blog—she was quicker than I was in posting her shots.

I was able to get this downward-looking angle for the image because I was on a small bridge that is part of a walking path around the pond. The heron was focused on trying to catch prey, though he didn’t seem to be having too much success. Judging from its relatively small size and inexperience fishing, I suspect that this might be a juvenile heron.

I took a number of other shots of the heron that I will probably post, including an encounter with what I think is a juvenile cormorant. Stay tuned.

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© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Heron fishing in the Potomac River

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on October 31, 2013| 18 Comments »

If you are a heron, how do you get  a fish down your throat and into your stomach after you have caught it? Some animals and birds of prey might tear off a bite-size piece of the fish using claws or talons. Herons don’t have that option. They have to somehow maneuver their catch within their bills until they are in a position to swallow it whole, all the time at risk of dropping their catch back into the water and losing it.

I enjoy watching Great Blue Herons (Ardea herodias) fish. They seem to be extremely focused, but patient as they wait for the optimal moment for a strike. This past weekend, I observed this heron in the waters of the Potomac River, just south of the city of Alexandria, Virginia. I watched and waited with my camera focused and ready until the heron struck and pulled a modest fish out of the water.

The heron made several adjustments to the fish’s position by making small movements with his head until it was in the ready position shown in the second photo. He them gave a little flip of his head, launching the fish into the air, and opened his mouth wider, as you can see in the first image. In a split-second the fish was gone and the heron was swallowing.

Every time I see a heron fishing, I am hoping that I will see him pull a really big fish out of the water, as I have seen in photos on other blogs.  So far I have seen the herons catch only small fish and an occasional crayfish or frog, but I hope to be ready when a heron catches a “big one,” so that I won’t have to be the one who tells stories of “the one that got away.”

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heron_fish1_blog© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Autumn heron reflection

Posted in Art, Birds, Landscape, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on October 25, 2013| 6 Comments »

The bright fall colors of the trees at the pond’s edge were reflected beautifully in the water and I waited until the Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) moved into those reflections to capture this shot.

The effects of the light on the water remind me a little of some of the paintings of Monet, one of my favorite artists. Normally when I am photographing birds, I do my best to fill the frame with them, but in this case the context was actually more important to me than the apparent subject.

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© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Punk rocker heron

Posted in Art, Birds, Humor, Music, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , , on October 12, 2013| 13 Comments »

A blue heron with attitude? The pose, facial expression, and hair style of this Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) at Huntley Meadows Park, my local marsh, remind me of a punk rocker. Do you think he has tattoos and body piercings too?

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© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Silhouettes and reflections

Posted in Art, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , , on August 30, 2013| 10 Comments »

Without fill-in light, a backlit subject is often in the shadows and becomes a silhouette, which is what happened in these shots of a Great Blue Heron taking off from a watery area of my local marshland park. The same sunlight in front of me also created beautiful reflections of the heron in the water, and I really like the combination of the silhouettes and reflections in these images.

This heron was getting ready to give chase to another blue heron and was squawking loudly as it took off. I watched the two herons for quite a while and this one went out of his ways several times to harass the other one and force it to search for prey in the vegetation away from the pool of water. As you can see in the second and third photos, a Great Egret was a spectator to the action, lifting up its head to observe what was going on. When things calmed down, the egret returned to its fishing until the next round of activity from the herons.

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© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Blue Heron close-up

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , on August 24, 2013| 7 Comments »

When it started to rain yesterday, I pulled out my umbrella and kept shooting for a while, permitting me to get this close-up shot of a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias).

The heron was stoically enduring the rainfall, as drops of water began to bead up on its shoulders. The wind started to kick up a little too, ruffling some of the feathers on the heron’s chest. I was afraid that my white and green umbrella would spook the heron, but I was able to get pretty close to the heron to get this shot at the far end of my 55-250mm zoom lens. If you click on the photo, you can see these (and other) details in a higher resolution image.

There are many flowers blooming in my local marshland park right now and I really like the little splashes of yellow in the background of this image.

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© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Vertical take off

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , , on August 24, 2013| 19 Comments »

Have you ever seen a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) attempt to do a vertical takeoff from the water? Most of the time, blue herons gain altitude with a few thrusts of their powerful wings as they move forward into the air.

This heron, however, looked like he was initially trying to levitate straight up into the air, like a Harrier jet, a jet that is capable of taking off vertically. It looked like the heron could not perform a normal takeoff because his feet were tangled in the weeds at the bottom of the little pond.  Before he could take off, he had to untangle his feet and his initial upward wing movements were intended to accomplish that task. Only then was he cleared for takeoff.

You’ll probably noted that I posted the images in reverse chronological order, so if you want to follow the takeoff process, you should start at the bottom. The first two images are more impressive as photographs, because I was able to capture the heron in the air, with the wings in interesting positions, despite the fact that I was using “only” a 180mm lens. (Some of the bird photographers that I encounter have 500mm or longer lenses.) The last two images are interesting and a little whimsical, because of the heron’s actions and the angle at which we are viewing the heron. Did you notice how skinny his face and neck look when shot from a head-on position?

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Click on the image for a higher-resolution view.

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Before you can take off, you have to untangle your feet.

Before you can take off, you have to untangle your feet.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Green heron out on a limb

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on August 10, 2013| 7 Comments »

The water has gone down in some parts of my local marsh and I encountered this Green Heron (Butorides virescens) in a little tree that overlooked one of the dried out areas.

I am not sure if the heron was hunting or resting, although it looked more like the former than the latter, because he seemed to be looking from side to side. Perhaps he was searching for frogs or some other terrestrial prey.

I did not have my longest telephoto lens on my camera, but I was happy that to get some several decent shot of the little heron in a number of different poses.

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© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Striding heron

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on August 10, 2013| 6 Comments »

I had zoomed all the way in on this Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias), when suddenly he took a big stride, a stride that almost took him out of the frame.

Something must have caught his attention, because he started moving quickly after having been still for quite some time. Normally when a blue heron moves, he is striking, reaching down to pull (or spear) some hapless prey out of the water. His lateral movement caught me a little by surprise.

One of the challenges of taking photos of wildlife is to be ready for the unexpected. I’m learning that the more I study subjects like this blue heron, the more I can anticipate some of their action. It’s a whole lot easier to be ready for the expected than for the unexpected.

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© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Heron over the marsh

Posted in Birds, Flowers, Gardening, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on July 31, 2013| 4 Comments »

I have always thought that Great Blue Herons (Ardea herodias) look a bit awkward on the ground, tall and gangly, but they are exceptionally beautiful in the air.

As I approached this blue heron yesterday at my local marshland park, it decided to take off. I often try to capture photos of birds in flight, though generally I’ve had only limited success.

I was pretty happy with this shot, taken shortly after the heron had taken to the air. The shaded woods make a decent backdrop and I like the blooming mallow flowers in the foreground. The focusing is a little soft, but I was able to capture some of the magnificent details of the visible wing.

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© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Hidden heron

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on July 31, 2013| 3 Comments »

Can you spot the heron in this photo?

I think that you probably can pick out the Green Heron (Butorides virescens), which blends in pretty well with the vegetation, a little easier than I was able to do, when I visited my local marshland yesterday. The heron, which I think might be a young one, was foraging about in the marsh plants, unlike other Green Herons that I have seen in the past, which tended to stand near the edge of the water awaiting prey. If the heron had not moved, I might not have seen him, because it was so close to the ground.

I really like the colors of the Green Heron and its distinctive yellow eyes. The Green Heron may not be as big in size as a Great Blue Heron, but it has its own beauty—maybe I should begin a campaign to change its name to Great Green Heron.

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© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Heron catches crayfish (?)

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, tagged , , , , , , on July 26, 2013| 12 Comments »

I enjoy watching Great Blue Herons (Ardea herodias) fishing—they seem so patient and so focused—and observed one recently in the beaver pond at my local marsh.

I was a little surprised to see the heron at that location, because the water level in the pond has dropped as the weather has gotten hotter and some areas are even exposed. As the heron plunged his bill into the shallow water, I expected him to pull out a frog or perhaps a small fish. I was too far away to tell for sure what he had caught, but I kept shooting. When I looked at the images, it looks like he may have caught a crayfish, but I am not really sure. Do herons even eat crayfish? I took the photos in the middle of the day, so the colors are washed out a bit, but some more knowledgeable reader may still be able to tell me for sure if it is a crayfish in the heron’s mouth. (You can get a higher resolution view if you click on the image.)

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The second photo was taken before the heron began fishing and gives you an idea of how shallow the water is in the beaver pond. In post processing, I made a number of tweaks to the image to try to increase the contrast and saturation of the colors and may have gone over the top a little. What do you think?

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© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Young Green Heron

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on July 9, 2013| 6 Comments »

It seems like I have been seeing Green Herons (Butorides virescens) everywhere recently. Of course, that is an exaggeration, but within the last month I have encountered Green Herons in three separate locations.

Out of the three locations, this is the most suburban—a little pond at a local garden, surrounded by grass on most sides. The other locations are in marshy, wooded areas.

I observed this Green Heron this past weekend and think it is a juvenile. Normally I have trouble identifying juvenile birds, but adult Green Herons have yellow legs, while juveniles have greenish legs.

I happened to have my 100mm macro lens on my camera, so I had to try to inch my way toward the heron to get this shot. I like the heron’s pose with its head tilted up. Ideally I would have liked to blur out the background more, but I don’t find the green grass to be too distracting.

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© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Pensive heron

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on June 17, 2013| 6 Comments »

Generally when I encounter Great Blue Herons (Ardea herodias), they are very focused. They seem willing to stand in one place for a long period of time, staring intently at the water, waiting for the optimal moment to strike.

In contrast, this heron seemed to be almost daydreaming as he gazed off into the distance. Had something caught his attention there? Was he merely taking a break? Was he thinking about something else, or imagining he was somewhere else?

I’ll never know the answer to those question, but I can be happy that he was willing to stay in one place long enough for me to get this shot.

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Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Green Heron on a log

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on June 12, 2013| 9 Comments »

One of the advantages to taking photos in the rain is that the birds and animals seem a little less sensitive to my presence and there are fewer other people around to spook them. This past weekend I came across this Green Heron (Butorides virescens) at relatively close range while it was raining.

The heron was perched on a log, just about the level of the water and I had an unobstructed view of him.  Despite the sound on my shutter as I snapped off some shots, the heron seemed oblivious to the fact that I was there.

Initially, the little Green Heron stood on the log, surveying the situation. Eventually, he bent over a bit to look more attentively at the water for potential prey. After a little while, he hopped off the log and I lost sight of him in the plant-filled water.

This is one of the few times that a Green Heron has not taken off immediately when I saw it or,  as is often the case, before I even saw it. As a result I was able to get my clearest shots of a Green Heron to date, though, of course, I’ll continue to be on the lookout for even better shots.

heron_log1_blogheron_log2_blogheron_log3_blogMichael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Heron in the cattails

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on May 31, 2013| 4 Comments »

A Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) seems to be a regular visitor to the beaver pond at my local marsh (and may have taken up residence nearby), but usually fishes in an area in which it is tough to get a clear shot.

One recent morning, however, I was happy to see him in a closer area and was able to get these shots. The first one has a less cluttered background, which helps to highlight the heron’s head.  Sometimes, though, I like the second one better, in which the heron is tucked into the midst of the growth and is partially camouflaged.

Do you have a preference for one of the two images?

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Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Focused Green Heron

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on May 8, 2013| 13 Comments »

I stopped dead in my tracks on Monday when I spotted this Green Heron (Butorides virescens) as I was walking along the boardwalk at my local marshland park.

Only rarely have I had such an unobstructed view of this beautiful bird. My camera was already affixed to my tripod and I slowly opened its legs and set it down, all the while keeping my eyes on the Green Heron. I didn’t dare to make any sudden movements and felt like I was moving in slow motion as I inched my way forward to the edge of the boardwalk.

I don’t know if the heron was actively hunting for prey, but he seemed really focused and unaware of my presence (or was willing to ignore me). Initially upright, the heron gradually leaned more and more forward and appeared to be focusing even more intently.

My breathing seemed loud in my ears and my shutter sounded like a machine gun to me, but the heron hung around long enough for me to get some pretty good photos. Eventually, though, he got spooked and flew away, but I think I have an idea of the general area in which he hangs out, so I hope to encounter him again.

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Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Heron sheltered from the rain

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, tagged , , , , , , on May 2, 2013| 9 Comments »

As I was getting ready to leave the marsh on Monday, I noticed this Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) on the other side of the beaver pond.

He did not appear to be fishing, but was perched on a fallen tree, seemingly seeking shelter from the falling rain. He was hunched over a little, like he was trying to retain body heat.

It’s not often that I see a blue heron completely out of the water (assuming I don’t count all of the times when they were flying away from me), so I was happy to get this shot.

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Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Green Heron in cattail shoots

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on May 1, 2013| 13 Comments »

On Monday as it was raining,  I encountered a Green Heron (Butorides virescens), one of my favorite birds. Initially he was perched atop an abandoned beaver lodge, but he took to the air as I approached. He flew to the edge of a cattail patch, where new shoots have started to appear during the last couple of weeks. The cattail shoots help contribute to the green backdrop for this Green Heron.

I was happy that I was able to get an unobstructed path to this little heron—normally Green Herons are at the edge of the water or are in trees, where it’s almost impossible to get a clear shot.

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Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Green Heron in a tree

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on April 29, 2013| 5 Comments »

I was thrilled this past Saturday when I caught sight of this Green Heron (Butorides virescens), because green herons have only recently returned to the area after spending their winter in warmer locations.

The lighting situation, however, was really problematic. There was beautiful dappled sunlight in the background, but the heron was mostly in heavy shade and his back was illuminated with harsh sunlight. I played around with a number of different settings and this was one of the better images.  I still had to make some adjustments in post-processing to pull some of the details out of the shadows, which made the final image a bit grainy.

I really like the Green Heron’s pose, as he looks off into the distance. I don’t think that he was actively fishing, but was merely relaxing in the shade of the tree.

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Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Heron reflection

Posted in Art, Birds, Landscape, Nature, Photography, Portraits, tagged , , , , , , on April 28, 2013| 10 Comments »

The Great Blue Heron was too far away for me to capture many details, but the light early yesterday morning was especially beautiful, so I decided to pull back and try to capture the landscape, something that I don’t do very often.

I love the rich bands of color that I managed to capture in this shot and the gorgeous reflections in the water at my local marshland park. The red color, I believe, is from buds that were stripped from the trees by winds and rain this past week.

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Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Standing heron

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on April 15, 2013| 4 Comments »

Although it is exciting to be able to capture a photo of a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) flying or catching a fish, I find them to be beautiful even when they are standing still.

I came upon this heron early one morning a week ago or so and was struck by the serenity of the moment. The heron seemed pensive and the beautiful morning light helped to provide some wonderful reflections in the still water of the beaver pond.

The second shot was taken a little later that same morning, after the heron had groomed himself. In this photo, I am amazed at how tall the heron looks with his neck fully extended.

It was rare for me to be able to get unobstructed shots of a heron from relatively close range, and I was pretty happy to be able to get shots like this.

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Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Ruffling a few feathers

Posted in Birds, Humor, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on April 12, 2013| 2 Comments »

I arrived at the marsh early in the morning, just as this Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) was getting up. He seemed to be going through his pre-breakfast routine, grooming and preening and getting ready for the day ahead. It was fascinating to watch him contort his long neck as he sought to arrange his feathers just so. The water was calm enough that he could have used it as a mirror, if he had wanted to do so.

I am not sure if he was trying to make himself look bigger and fluffier, was airing himself out,  or just wanted some additional air for insulation, but at one point he shook himself vigorously. I was fortunate enough to get the first photo as he was in the process of ruffling the feathers.

Eventually, my feathered friend decided that he was presentable and stood motionless, as though posing for me. I’ll post some of those images later.

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Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Patience barely rewarded

Posted in Birds, Humor, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on April 10, 2013| 7 Comments »

A Great Blue Heron this weekend was poised, waiting to strike, and I waited with my camera and my tripod, hoping to capture the moment of triumphal success.

I had visions of the heron pulling some big fish out of the water, like I see in Phil Lanoue‘s incredible photos, and watching as he struggled to swallow it whole.

The reality, as you can see, was much more modest. After all, the Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) was fishing in the beaver pond at my local marsh and the pickings were pretty slim. Initially, I though he had caught a frog, but the photo suggests it was a small fish, though it is hard to tell for sure because of the catch’s small size.

The second photo shows his pre-strike position. The heron stood motionless in this position for what seemed like an eternity. I am amazed that he could see anything in the shallow, reed-covered water.

When he struck, he didn’t even have to put his head very deeply into the water or use a lot of force to catch the fish. The final shot shows the heron swallowing his catch. It did not take any special maneuvering to get the little fish down his throat.

I saw a heron hanging around the same beaver pond the following day. I hope he is not spending all of his time in this one location or I may end up photographing a really skinny heron in the future.

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Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Heron in flight

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on March 10, 2013| 6 Comments »

I was staring intently at some ducks in a secluded area of the marsh, when suddenly my eyes caught sight of movement in one of the trees overlooking the pond. The next think I knew a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias), who had apparently been perched on the tree,  was flying through the air.

This is the best of the shots that I was able to take. Most of the times that I have attempted a similar shot in the past, the white in the face has been totally blown out. I still need to work on getting a better exposure, but feel like I am making progress. Now if I can just find a cooperative heron.

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Hunched over in the cold

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged , , , , , on February 19, 2013| 3 Comments »

How do Great Blue Herons manage to stay warm when it’s bitterly cold outside?

Yesterday morning was cold and windy and the beaver pond was iced over again. As I scanned the area, looking for activity, I noticed this Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) perched on the limbs of a fallen tree in a back area surrounded with undergrowth. He was hunched over with his wings wrapped tightly around himself and he seemed to be doing his best to maintain his body heat.

When I moved a little, he lifted his head slightly from his chest to look in my direction. Eventually he decided I was not a threat and he placed his bill back on his chest, between the feathers, and resumed his rest. Perhaps he was sleeping, though it seemed to me that the perch was a bit precarious for serious sleeping.

A few hours later, after it had warmed a bit, I saw a heron flying in the distance. Perhaps it was this blue heron, who had decided that it was time to begin his day’s activities, which I am sure included finding some unfrozen water where he might be able to locate something to eat.

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Heron on a bad hair day

Posted in Birds, Humor, Nature, Photography, Portraits, Winter, tagged , , , , , , on February 9, 2013| 8 Comments »

If you think that you are having a bad hair day today, check out the windblown hair of this Great Blue Heron.

It was cold and really windy today and it seemed like the small birds had sought shelter somewhere, because there were relatively few around. The bigger birds could handle the wind better and I saw lots of crows and geese and a number of vultures.

I also saw one Great Blue Heron, who was pretty far away from me. I watched him for quite some time as he stared down at the waters at the far edge of the beaver pond and I wondered if it would be possible for him to find anything to eat.

When I looked at some of my photos of the heron, I was struck by his hair. It looks like he is suffering from male pattern baldness and has grown his hair long in a vain attempt to hide that reality. Perhaps he has an artistically arranged comb over most of the time, but the wind caused his hair to go in all directions.

Do you think that they have a Hair Club for herons?

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Urban heron

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Urban, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on January 5, 2013| 5 Comments »

A few days ago I featured a Black-crowned Night Heron in a posting called Heron of a different color. One of the most unusual things about that heron was the location where I found him—a man-made canal at the edge of the runways at Reagan National Airport, across the Potomac River from Washington D.C.

That day there was another heron, a Great Blue Heron, fishing just opposite the night heron. I thought that herons preferred clear water, to help them see their prey better, but this water did not look to be very clear.

The first photo shows part of the canal, with a concrete wall in the lower right and the peeling paint of a bridge support in the upper left. I captured the image as the heron was moving around a freshly-caught little fish in his beak prior to swallowing it.

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In the second shot, the heron had just dipped his beak into the water. I like the concentric ripples in the water and the drops of water visibly dripping off of the heron’s beak. This may have been an unsuccessful strike or he may have decided to rinse out his mouth (to get rid of the fish taste?).

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In this final photo, the heron is crossing the canal. As you can see, the water is fairly deep. I particularly like the heron’s reflection and how the details of the long feathers in the front are visible.

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Six months ago, I didn’t realize that there were Great Blue Herons in the area in which I live, but now I seem to find them with some regularity. As long I continue to see them, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll be seeing them again in this blog.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Another blue heron photo

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on January 3, 2013| 9 Comments »

Earlier this week I posted a photograph of a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) that I encountered while walking along the Potomac River here in Virginia. As I looked over the images from that day I came across another one that I really like.  The heron’s posture and his feathers make this image stand out for me, especially the way the feathers merge with his reflection in the water.

It’s probably clear to many readers that Great Blue Herons are among my favorite birds and that I never tire of finding opportunities to photograph them.

Great Blue Heron on Potomac River, Take 2

Great Blue Heron on Potomac River, Take 2

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Heron of a different color

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on January 2, 2013| 6 Comments »

In the past six months I have photographed Great Blue Herons and little Green Herons, but I had never encountered a black-and-white heron like the one that I saw yesterday.

He was about the size of a green heron, but the coloration was different. At first I wasn’t sure that it was a heron, but as I watched him, he perched on the bank and stared intently at the water, just like I had seen the Green Herons do.

Actually, I am exaggerating a little when I call it a “bank,” for the little heron was in what appeared to be a man-made canal at the edge of the runways at Reagan National Airport. The water was muddy and slow-moving, but there must have been some kind of sustenance in it, because there were also ducks nearby.

What kind of a bird was it? Judging from the photos that I took, it was a Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax). The scientific name, Nycticorax, means “night raven”, according to Wikipedia, and refers to this species’ nocturnal habits and harsh crow-like call. This “Night Heron” was actively hunting for food during the day, despite his name. Maybe he was hungry or the noise of the nearby jet engines was too loud for him to sleep. The Black-crowned Night Heron is the most widespread heron in the world and has a range that spans five continents, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

This photo of the heron shows part of the concrete wall of the canal in the background and the netting that was being used to contain the rocks. The lighting was not that great, but I think that you can see some of the details of this interesting-looking bird, including his red eyes.

I don’t know why, but every time that I look at this photo, it looks to me like the heron is wearing an ill-fitting toupee.

Black-crowned Night Heron

Black-crowned Night Heron

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Great start to the new year

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , on January 1, 2013| 15 Comments »

The weather was overcast today, but I decided to take a long walk along the Potomac River. There is a bike/walking path that parallels the river and I set out for Washington D.C. from Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.

I stumbled upon a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) late in the afternoon, in one of the inlets just off the bike path that was raised above the water at that point. I have taken multiple photos of Great Blue Herons in the past, but I think that this image is my best to date. The pose is interesting and there are a lot of details. In addition the reflection is nice and the background is simple.

For me, this is about as close to a “great” shot as I can get at the moment, but this year I am hoping to raise my personal bar even higher.

Great Blue Heron in the Potomac River

Great Blue Heron in the Potomac River

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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