Well, it is back to the birds. I had numerous comments that opined that maybe I was out of character with my post of the Texas Bluebonnets. Maybe so. I am more in my own element when I am photographing birds or wildlife. Even though I got lucky with some flower pictures that made me a lot of money, I have always had a lot more fun making images of the avian variety. So this morning I had a couple of hours to kill, so Ann and I made a soiree out to Middle Concho Park.
The highlight was the spotting of a Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax). This is the first one of the season for us, arriving just about right on schedule, which is mid-April for them. As a matter of fact, we may have witnessed the actual arrival of the first one. He may have gotten an early flight out of Mexico City. 🙂
Black-crowned Night Heron in tree
We were just driving slowly along the shore of the Middle Concho River, when we spotted this fairly large bird come flying in and landing in a tree across on the opposite shore a little ahead of us. I stopped the car and put the binoculars on him. I immediately identified him as a male Black-crown Night Heron.
Black-crowned Night Heron in tree
We drove further along, so I would have a good position opposite of him on my side of the river. I was able to put my camera on my Puffin’ Pad© and photograph him from the window of the car. I used the Canon 7D with my 500mm f4 lens and 1.4 tele-converter. Exposures were about 1/1250 sec. @ f6.3, -0.3EV, ISO 160. Aperture priority.
Black-crowned Night Heron in flight
After getting several photos of him in various positions, he took wing and flew further down the river. I was able to get a decent shot of him in flight as well. I hope you enjoy the photos as much as I did in capturing them. During the rest of the little trip along the river, I came up with several more pictures of other birds that I will show you in the coming days. So stay tuned. 🙂
Texas Tweeties by Bob Zeller 