Young and Old
Shooting video of a Black-crowned Night Heron is almost a total waste of pixels. The bird seems to surpass all other local members of the heron family in the ability to imitate a stone. The bird turning its head three degrees counts as a major action shot. So even though I have many minutes of that kind of video, I’ll spare you. The real news is that this individual is a young one. A few days earlier in the same area over by Schoolhouse Creek I had seen an adult, below. That means without a doubt that they are breeding locally. The nest is very probably up in a tree near the corner of the hotel, but I wasn’t able to confirm that. This youngster spent about half an hour waiting for prey without any luck. The plodding approach of a human fisher in wading gear lugging an 18-inch striper flushed this heron and all other birds in the vicinity away. I last photographed young herons here on April 4 2019 up at the Open Circle Viewpoint and February 23 2019 on the south side rocks. Note incidentally the little patch of aqua green in the lore (the spot in front of the eye).
