This black-crowned night heron is in mating plumage, sporting two long white plumes. Both sexes look alike (at least to me) but I believe this is a male given its larger size.
He was surveying the water when I spotted him but I moved on before I saw him catch anything.
I took this photograph last August. We haven’t had as many opportunities to visit our favourite reserve this summer and the birds are keeping themselves scarce when we do go. Last year was a good year so old friends are putting in an appearance.
At the reserve we go to most often, mallards are well represented. They are very sociable, and always available for a photograph. I find them the most amusing of ducks, in this case the duck looks like its been up to something, or maybe it’s just me.
The first Egret shot was taken last summer, the bird was on the lookout for lunch. I took the second photo last fall, it appears the egret found the vine a tasty snack. I usually like to have a variety of subjects on my blog. This year my schedule and the birds putting in an appearance haven’t always coincided. Luckily as I have a good number of bird photographs that have yet to appear on my blog I’ll be featuring some from time to time.
I came across this wood duck chick as it was about to slip into the water. It reminded me of a child building up it’s courage to jump into the deep end of a pool. The duckling seemed to wear a triumphant expression when he finally did.
This bird is one of my favourites. A frequent visitor to my blog, the nuthatch’s alert and friendly manner makes for a great subject. I thought the background colour did a nice job of framing the bird.
Like many herons, the Black-crowned night heron can stalk its prey for longer than I have the patience to watch. With a catch or not they make for excellent subjects, as they stand so still allowing me to take many photographs. This spot on the lake is always a popular fishing spot, and the lighting always adds interest to the scene.
