Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Baby Green Herons


This is a green heron flying. Note the long neck.


This is a mama green heron watching her nest nearby. Note that her neck is NOT extended. (How do they DO that?)


Here she is again, watching the nest VERY closely. Why, you ask?

Well, take a look...

The nest was deep in a bushy tree hanging out over the water. Thus it was very hard to spot, much less to photograph through the branches, leaves, and the grape vine that intertwined.


Take a closer look. I'm only showing three below, but we counted five.


That guy in the back stretched his neck out for a better look at Carol.


Just LOOK at those necks!


When mama made a noise that sounded like a cross between a "cluck" and a "gulp" (weird noise!) the babies became very still in the nest. It must have been a warning call.


We have no idea how old these were, but they were fuzzy little critters.


Cute, no?


We noticed that when mama wasn't around, the kids, though they could not fly at all, would get out of the nest and climb around in the tree.


How did they keep from falling? Like this...

9 comments:

Karyn Lyndon said...

Who knew golf could be so educational?

kenju said...

So, when mama's away the birdies will play?

Anonymous said...

More great shots.

Duke_of_Earle said...

Karyn,

Oh, for sure! If you're observant you can see lots of educational things. And if you listen carefully, you can learn lots of new words. (Mostly of the four-letter variety.)

John

bigwhitehat said...

Outstanding.

Zinnia said...

Hi John! I realized I hadn't visited you for a while, so brought my tushy over here to say hello.

Love the heron pics. That one reminds me of an electrified punk rocker, lol.

Anonymous said...

Those are amazingly good photographs. Love love love the baby herons!

Candace said...

These pics of Carol's have just got to be put into a book, with your captions, John. Truly beautiful. Well done, once again.

Duke_of_Earle said...

Well, thank you, all! Don't know what the market would be for a book like Candace mentions, but it'd be fun to produce. Probably expensive, though, with all those color photos. Maybe if I could find a Nature Photography magazine with room for a regular comedy column...