Must have been a rough night of hunting for this particular Yellow-crowned Night Heron because I have more shot of him with his eyes closed than open. He did allow me to get close and kept closing his eyes. I like the dangling feather. Photo taken on Horsepen Bayou at first light.
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Tags: WanaM3 Nikon D7100 Nikon D7100 Texas Pasadena Clear Lake City Horsepen Bayou bayou outdoors nature wildlife canoeing paddling reeds stump animal bird feathers eye heron YCNH Yellow-crowned Night Heron Nyctanassa violacea
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GET THAT CANOE OUT OF MY FRONT YARD!!! I don’t care if it’s covered in water, you’re scaring the crabs away!!!! This Yellow-crowned Night Heron was likely bored and trying to figure out what he was going to do for lunch because the water was very high on this day. Photo taken on Horsepen Bayou.
Wishing everyone in U. S. A. a very safe and Happy 4th of July!!
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Tags: WanaM3 Nikon D7100 Nikon D7100 Texas Pasadena Clear Lake City Horsepen Bayou bayou outdoors nature wildlife canoeing paddling animal bird heron Yellow-crowned Night Heron Nyctanassa violacea
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…and we adjusted the WABAC (or Wayback Machine) for last year. Have not been on the water that much and so I don’t have a lot of shots of this particular species. If the water is low on the bayou they can be as thick as fleas on a dog and are very cooperative…for the most part. The photo that I posted yesterday of the Yellow-crowned Night Heron was taken VERY early in the morning and he was hidden in the shadows. Not a capture that I do well. This particular YCNH was doing some stalking on Horsepen Bayou when I grabbed this shot. Will just add that these characters usually stick to the blue crabs that they find on the bayou, but I also know that they are very opportunistic and will take almost anything that gets in front of them. I have never seen one go after a fish but am not sure that they don’t do that as well. Just wanted to give everyone a bit of a better look at them in a bit different light where the gray tones come out a bit better and you can see that yellow crown just a wee bit better. BTW, that guy/gal in the previous shot was just yawing and was merely turning on the old snag to line up his exit route.
Also want to add that I hope that everyone is safe in California that the damage and injuries are minimal. Best wishes and prayers for all of my California friends. Stay safe.
Hope everyone had a wonderful day and a Happy 4th of July as well. Take care.
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Tags: WanaM3 Nikon D7100 Nikon D7100 Texas Pasadena Clear Lake City Horsepen Bayou bayou outdoors nature wildlife canoeing paddling foraging animal heron YCNH Yellow-crowned Night Heron Nyctanassa violacea
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I did run across a large number of juveniles on the bayou on this past outing and this was one of three juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Herons that were attempting to figure out what was edible in their new domain. They picked up everything that was lying around on the tiny bit of exposed land where mom had brought them. The all stalked about picking up pinecones, twigs and other debris that had washed up in this area. They were not searching in the water where the blue crabs reside. At least they didn’t try to eat any of the golf balls that were lying about…two of which I cloned out of this scene. There were at least a dozen golf balls in this one tiny exposed area. It really was a shocker.
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Tags: WanaM3 Nikon D7100 Nikon D7100 Texas Pasadena Clear Lake City Horsepen Bayou bayou outdoors nature wildlife canoeing paddling animal bird juvenile heron YCNH Yellow-crowned Night Heron Nyctanassa violacea
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I know which I could have squeezed all three of the youngsters into the scene, but this was the best that I could do. Mostly content as four of the five birds can be seen together in this scene. The other juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Heron is just out of the frame to the right. It almost looks like the Tri-colored Heron is discussing the youngsters with Mrs. Yellow-crown!! Anyway, you’ll get the picture. Photo taken on Horsepen Bayou.
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Tags: WanaM3 Nikon D7100 Nikon D7100 Texas Pasadena Clear Lake City Horsepen Bayou bayou outdoors nature wildlife canoeing paddling animal bird heron YCNH Yellow-crowned Night Heron Tri-colored Heron Nyctanassa violacea Egretta tricolor
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