The beautiful Conch River winds itself through downtown San Angelo, Texas. I have not been down there in quite awhile, due to Ann’s and my responsibiities to the San Angelo State Park. It seems activities there have taken over our lives to a certain extent. Anyway, Friday evening an individual called me saying that he had seen some baby Black-crowned Night Herons perhaps nesting along the shore of the Concho River.
Black-crowned Night Heron
Ann and I decided to investigate, so we drove downtown the following morning to cruise along the river and observe. We stopped near the location that the man had described over the telephone. I immediately spotted an adult Black-crowned Night Heron up in a tree above the river. About a hundred yards away there were two Great Blue Herons in another tree. In still another tree were four Doubled-crested Cormorants.
Great Blue Heron
I was surprised that there was so much bird activity along that river. We didn’t see the young black-crowns unti were deciding to go home, then we spotted one juvenile sitting on a little dam at a low-water crossing. Click on any of the images to see enlargements. Below is a listing of the 12 birds that we saw along the river that morning. We probably would have gotten many more if we could have stayed longer.
Black-crown Night Heron - juvenile
Happy Birding!!
Number of species: 12
Northern Shoveler 18
Ring-necked Duck 12
Pied-billed Grebe 4
Double-crested Cormorant 12
Great Blue Heron 4
Black-crowned Night-Heron 2
Common Ground-Dove 4
Blue Jay 4
Northern Mockingbird 4
Northern Cardinal 6
Common Grackle 6
Great-tailed Grackle 12
Texas Tweeties by Bob Zeller 