Little But Proud – Green Herons

After my previous post about the Black-crowned Herons, several people remarked about the similarities between the juveniles and the Green Herons (Butorides virescens).   Here are several photos of some Green Herons that I have taken over the past year or two.  Something that I didn’t mention before, neither of these species is what you would call majestic, like the much larger Great Blue Heron which stands nearly 4 feet tall.  The Black-crowned is only 25 inches tall, and these Green Herons pictured below are still smaller at 19 inches.

Green Heron - adult

Green Heron - young adult

Green Heron - juvenile

Green Heron - juvenile

Green Heron - juvenile

Green Heron - juvenile

A little story about the 3rd and 4th photos from the top.  (I know you love a story.) 🙂

It was during the annual Lily-Fest at the International Water Lily Collection here in San Angelo.  It was the year 2009.  The festival is to bring the vast ponds of beautiful water lily blossoms to the attention of the masses.  They have music, vendors, etc.  But it seemed that at this presentation, two Green Herons decided to steal the show.  They flew into the ponds, of which there are five.  They skipped from one water lily pad to another, to the joy of the 300 or so people in attendance.  They were oblivious to the crowd as they tried to catch the little minnows that were in the water.

I hoped you enjoy the photos as much as I enjoyed bringing them to you.  Click on any of them to see an enlargement.