Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Black-crowned Night Heron

 Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)

Although Black-crowned Night Herons are common across North America (and also many other places worldwide) I had never heard of them until I started birding a few years ago.

Standing  on a dead branch in a marsh

The require a habitat near water but are not fussy about what kind: fresh or salt water marshes, swamps, streams, brackish wetlands...

Hunting

Their diet is varied: earthworms, leeches, insects, fish, turtles, snakes, turtles, plants...whatever, including garbage in landfills.

Asleep

As their name night heron suggests, they are most active at night or dusk.

I am connecting to Stewart M's Wild Bird Wednesday HERE

56 comments:

Francisco Manuel Carrajola Oliveira said...

Muito bem apanhada esta bela ave guardadora do rio.
Um abraço e continuação de uma boa semana.

chica said...

Lindas fotos!Adorei! bjs, chica

eileeninmd said...

Wow, gorgeous captures of the BC Night heron. They are cool birds, I always see them in the daylight on the hunt. Have a happy day!

Revrunner said...

Got them down here on the C&O Canal, but I only see them now and again.

Author R. Mac Wheeler said...

Sleepy Bird is so cute :O]

Tomoko said...

What a gorgeous photos of heron! Just beautiful and expressive.

Kate said...

Beautiful photos that show the feathers in a detailed way.

Jeanne said...

Lovely shots of this beautiful bird! Obviously he was not to afraid of you or your camera!

Donna said...

A beautiful bird captured in these wonderful poses.

Jenny said...

Never heard of them so thanks for the great photos and information. Maybe some of them are lurking in wetlands near me.

The Furry Gnome said...

Great pictures!

Unknown said...

Great series, all shots are wonderful!

Mary Hone said...

What a great looking bird.

Birdman said...

Fine portrait w/ brief information sketch.

Existe Sempre Um Lugar said...

Boa tarde, a garça é linda, não conhecia este tipo de garça, os detalhes da mesma e a cor bem fotografado é excelente. as fotos são magicas.
AG

Shammickite said...

He's a very handsome chap. I wonder if there any visiting the pond at the end of my street.

Linda W. said...

Nice looking bird! It's like he posed for you.

Debbie said...

these are really gorgeous, especially the light!!!

Mersad said...

Really wonderful wildlife shot.

Mersad
Mersad Donko Photography

Sylvia K said...

Such a beautiful bird and he does seem to be posing for you!! Terrific captures as always!! Hope you're enjoying a beautiful day!!

Cezar and Léia said...

"Please to meet you Mr Night Eron "! Amazing bird and you got a perfect sequence in your shots!I didn't know this eron, thanks for this article!
He is cute, isn't he? :)
Hugs
Leia

William Kendall said...

Quite a distinctive bird. We probably have them here, but I've never seen them.

PerthDailyPhoto said...

Super shots of this feathery fellow EG.

Susan said...

He or she is beautiful!

RedPat said...

I had never seen one before this summer when one moved into the pond in Wychwood Park and then I saw him for a few weeks but he seems to have moved on!. Cool shots as usual, EG!

Christine said...

Fantastic captures! I spotted the little turtle photo bombing!

Halcyon said...

Wow! You got some great shots of this guy.

NatureFootstep said...

this one did not seem to mind a human visitor either :) Great shots :)

mick said...

Great photos of a very beautiful heron.

Ruth Hiebert said...

Amazing pictures.

Silver Parrot said...

Nice photos - one of my favorite birds, but here I usually see them hanging out on fishing boats in the harbor.

Rohrerbot said...

This is a great bird....sneaky at times:)

Lowell said...

Those first two shots, especially, are superb portraits. I still think you ought to do a photo book (coffee table book) of the birds in your area.

TexWisGirl said...

they're so cool.i've only seen the yellow-crowned ones here.

VP said...

Beautiful bird, superb photos!

Hannah said...

Great shots, I like the one showing his red eye, he looks sleepy in the last one, so laid-back and cute.

Jack said...

Nice images, EG, especially the first one. I do see herons, especially in Florida, but I am not aware of this one. I will start looking when I get back to Naples.

JRandSue said...

Superb images.
John.

jp@A Green Ridge said...

Better than awesome pix!!!!...:)JP

Michelle said...

He looks very solemn.

Rajesh said...

Beautiful bird. It is very calm and composed.

Stephanie said...

Nice to see him up close. He looks very calm.

Cloudia said...

nice final portrait especially. I think I saw my first of these while in California. Always a pleasure to visit here











ALOHA
ComfortSpiral

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Kay said...

Beautiful shots! I don't see night herons nearly as much as I'd like though after reading about their diets I'm a little less enthusiastic.

Small Kucing said...

Lovely snap. She looks fierce. LOL

Anonymous said...

Wow - fabulous shots.

Anonymous said...

Wonderful images of a very focused looking bird!

Unknown said...

Fabulous pictures especially the first one..

Liz said...

What a gorgeous bird! Beautiful images!

magiceye said...

Beautifully captured!!

Andrea @ From The Sol said...

What a handsome, sturdy bird. I have never seen the Black Heron in our area, though we certainly have numerous water options for them. We do get Green Herons ... maybe they don't share territory. This is a nice series EC and I especially like the shot with the reflection ... Nice!

Andrea @ From The Sol

Anonymous said...

what a sweet bird!

A Colorful World said...

Great photos! A wonderful heron encounter!

Rose said...

I have not seen them here, but seen them when in California with daughter. They were in the park and we could pass within just a few feet of them and they were not afraid. And same with the Great Blue Heron.

Anne (cornucopia) said...

Great photos! (I never knew about them until I started birding, either. My first encounter was purely by accident. Recently I got photos of a juvenile, my first time ever for that.)

Unknown said...

A beautiful bird!

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East Gwillimbury is a rural town less than an hour north of Toronto, Canada's largest city. My family calls me CameraGirl because I take my camera with me wherever I go.