Monday, July 2, 2012

Yellow-crowned Night Heron


A rare species for Illinois, this Yellow-crowned Night Heron showed up in my hometown a week or so ago. What luck! A friend discovered this guy and put out the word... Seeking him out, I was pleased to find him quickly and in decent light.


Various angles, interesting lighting and a catch of the day sealed the deal!


He was also pretty tolerant, letting me approach to about 50 feet. I try never to push him to stress, so I observed his movement and behavior. As long as he fished, I knew he was comfortable. If he watched me for too long, I backed off immediately so that he could continue his natural behavior. He caught a crayfish and I was rewarded for my good wildlife photography etiquette!

4 comments:

  1. Absolutely fabulous shots! I have never seen one of these. Lucky you!!

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  2. Congrats on capturing this species. I have not seen--let alone photographed it.

    As usual you did a superb job of documenting this encounter.

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  3. They're all very good, but your first shot is amazing! Beautiful crystal clear bird and beautiful bokeh!

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  4. Sumptuous bird and the two last shots are marvelous! Well done!

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