green herons

[squirl033]

green herons are among my favorite subjects. i have no idea why. regardless, i seem unable to pass up a chance to get a shot of one of these little fellows, and occasionally, they let me get close enough to really do them justice...

these were taken at Juanita Bay Park in Kirkland, with my 40D and 100-400L at various focal lengths and exposures...

log-rolling with the turtles - sorta like dancing with the stars, only not...

"walking the plank", looking for lunch

and finding it!

and keeping a wary eye on the bald eagle that was sitting in the cottonwood above me...

 

[BobH]

I'd never heard of the green heron before, not familiar with them at all.

We've got the "blue" variety down my way. Apparently "green" is the mid-size version while "blue" is the XXL variety.

 

[squirl033]

yeah, the greens are quite small - a bit smaller, usually, than the American bittern. we have loads of blues here too, and i have a boatload of photos, some of which i'll post over time. but the greens for some reason just seem more interesting to me...

 

[BobH]

yeah, the greens are quite small - a bit smaller, usually, than the American bittern. we have loads of blues here too, and i have a boatload of photos, some of which i'll post over time. but the greens for some reason just seem more interesting to me...

Oh, yeah, well, smaller than a bittern eh? That clears it up...

Gee, guess now I know what somebody feels like when they wander into RailroadForums.com and hears us mumbling about 2-8-2's and Shays and SD70's and etc etc...

While I enjoy birds, my bird spotting ability is quite limited and pretty much restricted to the very obvious stuff. In fact it took me a couple of years to realize that my local goldfinches really weren't flying south for the winter, but rather they just turned into "brownfinches" during the cold season. Only after see a 1/2 goldfinch 1/2 "brownfinch" at my feeder, as he grew in his fancy plumage, did I figure that one out.