Monday, May 4, 2009

Bird Photography Weekly: Green Heron

Living in what has been nicknamed the "Bayou City" — surrounded by bayous, creeks and rivers — and less than a hundred miles from the Texas Gulf Coast, I am blessed to see an abundance of herons and egrets. It is rare day that I do not see a handful of egrets flying over on my way to work in the morning, and I can usually drive less than ten minutes from my office to find one or more species of herons during my short lunch break.

But until a week ago, I had never seen one particular member of the heron family that is supposedly not uncommon in this area: the Green Heron. I had followed numerous park trails and sighting reports in search of this small heron, but to no avail. So in heading to Brazos Bend last week, the Green Heron was at the top of my "Want to Find" list.

Green Heron - click to see full-sized image on Flickr
Green Heron (Butorides virescens)

Eureka! Twenty minutes into our hike around 40-acre Lake, we spotted our first Green Heron of the day. All in all, we came across seven of them lurking in or around the water's edge, with the last sitting patiently only about twenty feet away as we paused to admire the rich, earthy tones of his plumage.

Green Heron - click to see full-sized image on Flickr

What a magnificent way to add this beautiful bird to my life list!


For more great bird photos from around the world, check out Bird Photography Weekly #36.

Bird Photography Weekly

14 comments:

gwen said...

Wow, excellent photos. Love the second one, just beautiful.

Amanda said...

What happened to our bird photography weekly meme? I went to post my photos and it seems to have crashed. OH NO!!!

Unknown said...

Stunning shots Kyle, the colours are wonderful.

Vickie said...

Gorgeous images with so much detail and color. Nice find!

Kelly said...

Wow! Very nice. I've not seen a Green Heron either, but i want to. Your photos of him are wonderful.

whowhatwhere said...

Nice shots of one of my favorite birds. The return of the Green Herons is my personal indicator of the arrival of Spring.

Kevin Poling

Bob Kaufman said...

Congratulations on your lifer and for the excellent photo! The second one is really outstanding!

MaineBirder said...

Very beautiful images Kyle!

A friend and I were walking a trail last summer and I walked right by a pair. Friend told me where they were. They blend into their surroundings so nicely.

mick said...

Great photos - both - but the second one is exceptional! Why is is called a 'green' heron? - (its not a bird we have here in Australia)

Larry Jordan said...

I am soooooooooo jealous Kyle. Congrats on the Green Heron added to your life list. I have seen some. Like John, I have walked right past them standing perfectly still in the reeds on the edge of a pond, with camera in hand, after actually seeing the bird fly into the area, and missed the shot as they flew away :-(

I know I will get a good capture eventually. Your photos are superb shots of an illusive bird.

Bird Advocate said...

One of those loved to fish in our trough at the horse stables. We'd bring him some stupid new gold fish each week just to keep him coming around. The few he'd miss soon learned to hide under the half pipe we left at the bottom of the trough.

DaveABirding said...

Great photos of a cool bird, one of my favorite finds. I'll keep checking back to see what else you've found.

Dawn Fine said...

Love the second photo! Beautiful!

Jane said...

Wonderful shots, funny they are called green herons yet they are not evn green.