A series of canals that run along and between some old rice fields has become a gathering spot for young Black-crowned Night-herons.
When the tide is out there is a buffet of crabs and other creatures exposed for lunch down in the canals.
When we passed through the tide was in and the birds exhibited heron patience in the trees.
A few of them swapped positions, pushing each other around, but this one just held his position.
A few more of the juvenile Black-crowned Night-herons were in another tree line but proved to be a bit more skittish.
Lovely series, Ellen!
Thank you!
I’ve seen a juvenile like this several times in the past week, including with a group of homeschool children on boardwalk tour. Always wondering at this stage whether it’s a black-crowned or yellow-crowned??
I wouldn’t be surprised if I had some mis-labeled on this site, here are some others:
https://passingbyphoto.com/?s=Yellow-crowned+juvenile
The Yellow-crowned are a bit scrawnier looking like:
https://passingbyphoto.com/2018/08/28/juvenile-yellow-crowned-night-heron-2/
Sometimes in real life they don’t look anything like the guide books!
So true!!