More Spring Surprises

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.