The Green Herons have been arriving in the San Angelo, Texas area for their annual summer stay. On Friday, while I spent most of the time photographing those Great Horned Owls, I did spot a Green Heron sitting on a dead tree branch overhanging the river at Spring Creek Park.
The Green Heron, (Butorides virescens), is relatively small as herons go. They are only about 19 inches tall. These photos are of an adult with breeding plumage.
I was amazed at how I was able to get close to him. Of course, he was pretty intent on staring at the water in search of some tasty morsel. I got the following two shots of him there. Click on any of the seven photos to see some incredible enlargements.
Green Heron
Green Heron
On Saturday morning we drove downtown to check out the Great Blue Heron nests along the Concho River. Although we observed three chicks on those nests, the conditions weren’t good for usable photos. I will be back there in a few days. However we did see another Green Heron along the opposite bank doing a little fishing. Here are the results of his endeavors.
On the hunt……
I see you…….
dive! dive! dive!……
Gotcha!! Two for one…..
Okay, my belly’s full. Now where is that eagle I am supposed to rassle??
I hope you enjoyed the photos. I would enjoy reading comments from any of you.
Texas Tweeties by Bob Zeller 
Bob! These are great…I love you narrative…keep it coming!!
Lyndi, so nice to hear from you. I hope you will visit my blog again. I will try to keep this stuff coming. And thanks for the compliment. 🙂
FANTASTIC photos — thank you for sharing!!
Thanks, Gloria, I appreciate your commenting.
Amazing pics, Bob, and I love your captions! 🙂 Green Herons should be called Multi-coloured Herons – they’re so beautiful!
Thanks, Jo. I agree with you about their colors. And I know that you like my ‘humor’ once in a while. 🙂
Gorgeous photos, Bob. The first one looks like a painting! 🙂
Thanks, Lisa, for your kind words. 🙂
Your photos are always awesome and educational. You would make a great guest speaker at a school.
Thank you, Martina. I accept that as a great compliment. 🙂
Love the photos and your commentary..
Thanks, Syl, I thought you would enjoy it. 🙂
The last one is amazing. I’ve never seen one with its feathers fluffed. I love green herons and still remember when I saw one for the first time. I’m still blown away by their beauty! I had a first bird spotting today Bob- Wood Ducks. My are they beautiful! I always think of you and your lists whenever I see a bird for the first time. 🙂
As always, it is wonderful to hear from you, Melissa. I hope things are fine with you up there in the ‘north woods’. I envy you spotting the Wood Ducks. We don’t get many, but they are absolutely gorgeous and I am still looking forward to my first real saleable photo of one. Thank you for thinking of me, and I appreciate your comment. 🙂
They took off before I could get a decent photo of them. Right when they heard me (about 75 feet away) they took right off! Hope you’re doing well and feeling fine. (:
That’s the problem with ducks. Easily spooked. Well, maybe next time. 🙂 Oh, yes, I am doing great and feel great. We are headed back to the Big Bend in two weeks. My favorite spot, of course. 🙂
I met Carl, your neighbor, the other night when I was shooting the Heron’s at the River Walk. After he left I got the most amazing shots. The mother reached down into the nest and picked up a huge fish she had stored there and let the babies eat off of it. I was so shocked and wished Carl had been there to see it too.
Hi Sandy, Thanks for visiting my blog. I hope you will check it out again. I try to keep up with those heron nests. Hopefully, I will get some more photos of those chicks.