As I may have mentioned before Ann and I quite frequently breakfast at the McDonald’s restaurant a couple blocks from our house. Ya gotta love those ©Egg McMuffins. 🙂
Behind the parking lot a little creek meanders along, a branch of the Red Arroyo system. We always monitor the birds and such that frequent the place. The other morning we spotted this juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Heron, (Nyctanassa violacea), along the bank. You can see that it’s yellow crown hasn’t matured much yet.
Yellow-crowned Night Heron
I photographed the bird from the car, using my Canon EOS 7D with a 100-400mm lens attached. It is amazing how successful you can be if you use your car as a blind. If I would have got out, I am sure I would have spooked him, and he would have flew off. When I absolutely have no choice, and have to get out to get a shot, I try to keep the car between me and the bird, maybe shoot over the roof, or lean over the hood, etc. For these shots, I was only about about 40 feet away.
Yellow-crowned Night Heron
The less stress you put on your birds, the better and more natural image you can obtain. Click on either image to see an enlargement. Happy Shooting!!
