Ten Minutes at K-Mart Creek

April 19, 2013 by Bob Zeller

It didn’t take long. We had been observing a Yellow-crowned Night Heron near our local K-mart Creek, so named of the little drainage creek that usually flows by an empty K-mart building. I, like Lisa Rest up in Chicago, Illinois, always have my camera with me. Check her blog to see her amazing shots from the Windy City.

We hadn’t had time to stop on the previous sightings, so we decided to make a special trip, specifically to see if we could spot that bird. We saw it immediately as we drove on to the parking lot. I managed to get the two pictures that are below, then as we were about to leave, Ann spotted a Green Heron in an honey mesquite tree by the water. It was obscured partly by foliage, but I have always maintained that if you can see enough of the eyes, get them in sharp focus, you can get a nice picture.

I hope you enjoy all of the photos. Click on any of them to see an enlargement.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron

Green Heron in tree

Happy Blue Heron Parents

April 17, 2013 by Bob Zeller

This morning early, I drove downtown to where the Concho River flows through the Santa Fe Park. Along the bank of the river is a dead tree that hangs out over the water. There are two Great Blue Heron nests near the top. At least one of them has a new-born in it. Since they are about 20 feet above me in elevation, it is difficult to actually see into them. The skies were overcast and cloudy, and the lighting was excellent. No harsh shadows to worry about. The adults were coming and going, but I got this shot of both of them, plus the head of the tiny chick sticking up a bit. I was about twenty feet away from the base of the tree, and up a small slope.

A happy family of Great Blue Herons.

I hope you enjoyed the shot. Click on it to see an enlargement.

Black-crowned Night Heron on the hunt.

January 24, 2013 by Bob Zeller

Sometimes when I am out doing a little birding, and hopefully a little photographing, too, I come across little surprises. Such was the case this morning as I was cruising through Spring Creek Park. I was traveling along the shore of the creek, about 175 yards across at this point, and I happened to see a light colored blob of something in the brush on the other side.

juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron

Putting the binoculars on it, I discovered that it was a juvenile Black-crowned night Heron. He was partially hidden by branches, as he stared down at the water. I wanted to try and get a better photo of him more out in the open. I drove down the shore a little bit and found a spot where I could aim my 500mm len through the brush on my side, and also get a better open shot of the bird. This is the result of that maneuvering around.

juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron

I really like this as I got a better side view of the heron. The photo below is what he will look like when he grows up. I took this photo a few years back along the Tennessee River at Knoxville, Tennessee.

adult Black-crowned Night Heron

Click on any image to see an enlargement, and while your clicking check my new Fine Art gallery.

Jovial Black-crowned Night Herons

November 27, 2011 by Bob Zeller

I can’t say for sure that they are jovial, but these Black-crowned Night Herons (Nycticorax nycticorax), seem to be enjoying themselves. A couple of the images look like they are laughing, and I haven’t even told one of my corny jokes yet. Anyway, I have been culling images since it is cold and windy around here today. There are many species of Herons besides my favorite, the Great Blue. The Black-crowned is probably my second best favorite.

Except for the image of the juvenile standing in a pool of water, the rest were all taken in Knoville, Tennessee on the Tennessee River. Ann and I were visiting a dear friend of mine there, and she and her husband took us there. There must have been nearly one hundred of the herons flying all over the place.

Black-crowned Night Heron

Black-crowned Night Heron - juvenile

Black-crowned Night Heron

Black-crowned Night Heron - juvenile

Black-crowned Night Heron

I used my Canon 7D and 500mm lens mounted on a tripod with a Wimberley II Gimbal head, for all of the shots except for the juvie 2nd from top. A litle story about that particular image.

Ann and I were driving slowly down River Drive, along the Concho River here in San Angelo. Near the Irving Street crossing there is a low-water crossing and a small dam. I spotted the juvenile, and at first I thought it was a Green Heron. Anyway, it was close enough that I could use my 100-400mm lens. I had to walk down a steep embankment of about 8 feet. The path that I took was hard-packed sandy dirt. I started to slide, right into a huge mesquite tree growing into the bank of the river. The tree stopped me from going into the river. I sure know how to make my life exciting. 🙂

But as my other photographic friends, like Mia McPherson, can attest, sometimes a guy has to get a little down and dirty.

Tale of The Take – Great Blue Heron

May 5, 2011 by Bob Zeller

Some of you readers that have been with me a long time, maybe remember this photo of a Great Blue Heron. This image shows the heron maneuvering his catch so he can swallow it down head first. I was fortunate enough to come up with an exposure that seemingly suspends the catfish in mid-air.

Great Blue Heron - about to swallow catfish

We were below the Lake Nasworthy Dam, in San Angelo, Texas, back in September of 2009. There were several pools between the rocks in the water, and the Blue Heron was doing a little fishing there. He seemed oblivious to Ann and I, so I was able to take the time to set up my camera and tripod only about 30 feet away. I watched him fish a bit, and tried to time his spearing so I could get a shot, as I did this one below.

Great Blue Heron catchng a catfish

Not bad for a practice shot. I tried several more series of shots. I had set my camera on high-speed multiple shots, and was able to shoot at about 5 frames per second. As the heron’s head hit the water, I held the shutter down and produced several more shots. Two of them are below.

Great Blue Heron with captured catfish

This bottom photo is the one that I selected to produce the cropped image that you see at the top of this post. The heron was quite hungry that morning as we watched him catch and devour at least four little catfish.

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