Juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron: August 2022

Adult Black-crowned Night Herons are quite distinctive with their black back, white underparts and light gray wings:

Black-crowned Night Heron
Black-crowned Night Heron
Black-crowned Night Heron

At close range, the bright red eyes are striking features:

Black-crowned Night Heron
Black-crowned Night Heron


This morning, at Col. Sam Smith Park, I came across this bird:

Black-crowned Night Heron (juvenile)

No black back, or gray wings. The broad, blurry steaks of colour and some large white spots identify this as a juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron.

Black-crowned Night Heron (juvenile)
Black-crowned Night Heron (juvenile)
Black-crowned Night Heron (juvenile) with Red-eared Sliders
Black-crowned Night Heron (juvenile) with Red-eared Slider
Black-crowned Night Heron (juvenile)
Black-crowned Night Heron (juvenile)

Last summer, a Yellow-crowned Night Heron spent many weeks here:

Yellow-crowned Night Heron
Yellow-crowned Night Heron with Ring-billed Gull
Yellow-crowned Night Heron
Yellow-crowned Night Heron

Other birds:

Mallard
Ring-billed Gull (juvenile)
Eastern Kingbird
Double-crested Cormorants
Mute Swan
Mute Swan
Downy Woodpecker (female)
Red-necked Grebes
Eastern Kingbird
Eastern Kingbird

NATURE POETRY

It is a sultry day; the sun has drunk
The dew that lay upon the morning grass;
There is no rustling in the lofty elm
That canopies my dwelling, and its shade
Scarce cools me.                                         – William Cullen Bryant (1794–1878)

Miles Hearn

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