Went to my favorite local park pond here in KY on Saturday to try and get some photos of Green Herons before they are gone for this year.

Instead, found this willow tree full of fledglings, barely out of the nest!


GreenHeronChicks31Jul2021_202A by Marshall Smith, on Flickr


Marshall

I agree with rwilson1942, a female RWBB.

Merlin Bird ID is great, but it occasionally can go off the rails, depending on the photo.

This photo is excellent, and a screenshot of the photo inputted to Merlin Bird ID did ID as a RWBB.

Marshall

Very pretty, 1FTR! That has been my experience, too, having to shoot a fast moving target like that, on the fly.

This is pretty far to drive from your Portland area, but other closer Hoggers might be interested in this:

https://www.cincinnatiparks.com/krohn/

We went to this annual event last weekend and it was eye-opening for a non-enthusiast to the world of butterflies. An entire conservatory room with double airlock doors just filled with butterflies. They handed you a paper disk upon entry and encouraged visitors to let the butterflies land on them. No touching, just nudging with the paper disc.

A Google search might come up with a similar opportunity in your area.

Thanks for posting those shots!

Marshall

MT native, that's a fine series about a wonderful pair of birds!

The one of the pair on opposite sides of the tree is great. My favorite of the series is the last one, the male with spiderwebs on his head and a beak full of debris!

We've got them nearby in our woods, hear them frequently, see them occasionally, and hope to one day get an opportunity like you had.

Well done!

Marshall

That is an important life lesson right there:

One should always strive to be the highest buzzard in the tree...


Marshall

Great sighting, Mark! Were you in Hawaii?

Marshall

I agree with ncjim, yellow-billed cuckoo.

Some years ago I watched a pair of these in our yard. Several times the male returned to the perch with a juicy caterpillar for the female, then they would mate.

He skipped the movie part.

Marshall

There is a spot here in Georgetown that I discovered several years ago that has been one of my go to spots to photograph green herons during their breeding seasons here in KY.


I'd been watching for several minutes before I even saw the heron, they can stand so still and blend in perfectly.

GreenHeron in DuckweedOne16Jul2021 by Marshall Smith, on Flickr


Duckweed covered the water and I don't know how the heron could even see anything, but after a couple of lightning steps it struck into the water.

GreenHeronInDuckweedTwo16Jul2021 by Marshall Smith, on Flickr

Apparently being covered with duckweed was not in the plan, so the heron, after catching something, don't know what, launched itself straight up out of the water.

GreenHeronInDuckweedThree16Jul2021 by Marshall Smith, on Flickr


I was shooting on high speed continuous since seeing it on the rock, and the action happened so quickly the the last frame of the burst only showed two orange feet at the very top of the frame. lol!

GreenHeronInDuckweedFour16Jul2021 by Marshall Smith, on Flickr


Marshall

I agree with Marg, a cardinal, possibly a juvenile or young female.

Marshall

What a fine series, artesdecobo!

As an addition I'd love to see some shots of the action happening between your first and second shots. Hard to get and you'd probably have to be positioned on the shore or in a boat, but the way a Green Heron walks around with its neck folded into its body and then shoots it out for a lightning strike some distance away is a sight that is amazing and an image worth working for.

Marshall

Very pretty!

It's a very young one based on its green legs and remnants of white baby head fuzz sticking up. They are also more vibrant than adults.

A fine image.

Marshall

????

Good work on a hard-to-get shot, they move around so unpredictably!

I was out in our milkweed patch a few days ago and saw a couple of these. No Monarch Butterfly eggs or caterpillars yet, though.

Thanks!

One thing I learned this year is that both adults will sometimes get inside the tree at the same time, along with however many nestlings there are.

So far I've only seen one baby beak poking above the edge, and that was only one day about a week ago.

Marshall