Tuesday afternoon, I got a call from my good friend Carl Williams. He lives just a few houses down the street me. He informed me that he had driven by our now familiar “K-Mart Creek”. It is so named by the bar ditch that runs by an empty K-Mart store about four blocks from us. He told that there was a Yellow-crowned Night Heron wandering about the place.
I high-tailed it down the street to get a good look. The Yellow-crowned Night Heron, (Nyctanassa violacea), is somewhat of a rarity around these parts, so I was anxious to have a look and maybe get a few photographs. Have I told you that I always have my camera with me?
At first, I only saw the bird as he was facing away from me. I was on the store parking lot at the time and was able to aim my 500m lens and 1.4 teleconverter out the drivers side window and get this shot.
Yellow-crowned Night Heron
After getting this shot, I decided to try to get around for a frontal view. I took my camera with the 100-400mm lens attached and proceeded to cross the little bridge, giving the bird a wide berth so he wouldn’t spook. By then he had moved closer to the bridge, and by being very quiet, I was able to get the shot below from there.
Yellow-crowned Night Heron
But the surprises weren’t over. I got back in the car, drove a few yards and discovered a Wilson’s Snipe, (Gallinago delicata), poking around in the water under a large tree. I had to settle on trying to aim my 500mm lens (again with the 1.4 tele-converter) between some tree branches to get the shot. By using only the center focusing point, the job isn’t too tough. Below is one of several images that I was able to get. These little guys are quite the cuties.
Wilson’s Snipe
My publisher has announced a $10.00 discount on my book, “Birds, Beasts and Buttes”. Click on this link: http://www.blurb.com/b/3431406-birds-beasts-and-buttes. Use Promo Code SHARE10 at checkout. Offer good through March 31.
San Angelo residents, call me 325-944-1839. I have some autographed books on hand. The sale price is 47.95 hardcover, 37.95 soft-cover, plus sales tax.
Texas Tweeties by Bob Zeller 