The Kindness of Strangers

The second day we were in Santa Rosa I chose to go to Spring Lake rather than return to the Sonoma County Park, and I’m glad I did because I’ve never seen so many egrets and herons before, which was even more surprising because I’ve never seen anything but a Great Blue Heron there before.

I got pictures of both a Great Egret and a Great Blue Heron, but none that were better than the pictures I posted yesterday. I must have spent the most time taking pictures of this Snowy Egret at Lake Ralphine,

Snowy Egret

which made it incredibly difficult to choose a best shot because I liked so many of them. This might be my favorite bird to photograph.

I also got pictures of this young Green Heron at Spring Lake.

Green Heron

I happened to point it out to a fellow walker who told me that she had recently seen Night Herons on Spring Lake. That immediately got my attention because I’ve never seen one although I had been trying to get a picture of one in Colorado for several years.

Amazingly, right after she had departed and was walking the trail in front of me she motioned me forward and pointed out this Black-Capped Night Heron,

Black-Capped Night Heron

which was apparently napping because he stood there perfectly still for over a half hour, never changing his pose. Even more strangely, it turned out that some pictures I’d taken earlier on the walk of a “Great Blue Heron” that had been pointed out by another walker turned out to also be a Night Heron once I could see them on the computer.

I’m continually surprised what a friendly group of people most birders are, people who go out of their way to share their joy with others, especially with fellow birders.

3 thoughts on “The Kindness of Strangers”

  1. hi loren, other than yourself i know one birder. she’s a deeply dedicated birder and tells of the incredible community she belongs to. the sharing, teaching, supporting she describes are really cool. these pics are astonishing loren – the snowy egret a revelation!! steven

  2. That first picture is absolutely wonderful Loren – worth of the front cover of National Geographic.
    I have always found birders to be friendly – they will tell you if they have spotted anything unusual.
    Enjoy your birding photography and post more lovely shots.

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