I spotted a single Yellow-crowned Night-heron at the far edge of a rookery, high above my head.
Something gave him a start, not dangerous enough to fly off, but he looked concerned.
Startled Yellow-crowned Night-heron
Tag Archives: Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Did You See a Sign?
Surely they didn’t mean us!
A pair of juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Herons that flushed out of a tree when I passed by landed on a dock that sits on the Ashley River.
The river is tidal and the tide was in so there would be no river bank fishing for this duo for several hours.
Yellow-crowned Night-heron Flying By
A Yellow-crowned Night-heron cruising around the pond, for no particular reason that I could see.
He made a few loops then disappeared into the trees.
Yellow-crowned Night-heron Hunting
A Yellow-crowned Night-heron was on the prowl at the edge of a pond.
He didn’t have to work too hard for it this time, waded into the water and bam!
I’m not sure what it is, a crab or crawfish maybe.
It was good!
Yellow-crowned Night-heron and Friends
Maybe not friends, but tree-mates. This dead tree stands on the banks of the Ashley River and is popular perch for a variety of birds.
I have been watching some Yellow-crowned Night-herons that are nesting at the edge of a nearby pond. This one stayed here, perhaps getting a respite from nest duty, for over an hour.
The Anhinga and Grackle came and went. The sky stayed grey.
Yellow-crowned Night-heron, Twig Gathering
Usually I say stick gathering with images of a heron working on nest material. This Yellow-crowned Night-heron was only interested in small twigs, and despite all his efforts I never saw him take anything to the nest.
Ah, maybe this is the one!
No, he dropped that one and poked around for another option.
You can hardly see the twig sticking out of his beak, and after a minute he dropped that one, too.
Yellow-crowned Night-heron Overhead
Since posting Yellow-crowned Night-heron at Nest a few weeks ago I’ve discovered there is at least one more pair nesting around this pond.
The adults not doing nest duty often perch in the trees that line the pond.
This one selected a spot right over the walking trail. I don’t know which nest he’s associated with.
Both nests I’ve spotted are tucked into vegetation and you can just see a glimpse of an adult laying on the nest. Incubation period is just over three weeks so we should be seeing some chick movement soon.
Yellow-crowned Night-heron at Nest
Luck and being aware of movement play a role in nature photography. I happened to catch this fellow moving and only when I got a little closer and peered around some limbs could I tell it was a Yellow-crowned Night-heron.
I was then surprised to see a nest, with a nice curtain of Spanish Moss on one side and leaves on the other.
There were two adults present and after a bit one of them stepped out for a photograph or two.
Yellow-crowned Night-heron Straight On
A Yellow-crowned Night-heron looking right back at me.
Strutting Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Yellow-crowned Night-Herons tend to be secretive and are usually at least partially hidden in some kind of vegetation.
I was rather surprised to see this one strutting out in the open.
