Month: April 2013

Although we only discovered the Night Heron Rookery at Colusa National Wildlife Refuge last year, we were looking forward to seeing it again this year. As we drove up, though, we thought they had left. As we completed the drive, they surprised almost as much as they did last year. From a distance, all you can see is patches of white amidst the branches, only later spotting the herons sitting on branches outside the main rookery.

Even with a 1000mm lens it’s difficult to isolate a single heron

they’re packed so tightly together, layer after layer of them.

Unfortunately, I don’t know enough about their nesting habits to know if this is where they will raise chicks, but I didn’t see any signs of nests even when zooming in on several of the shots I’d taken.

The only closeup I was able to get was taken of a lone heron at Spring Lake in Santa Rosa.

I wish I had a chance to observe these birds over a longer period of time, but I’ve never seen one in Western Washington so it’s unlikely I’ll ever get the opportunity to do so. On the other hand, if I saw them regularly I would probably be less interested in them than I now am.

I don’t get a chance to see the amazing White-Faced Ibis very often so it’s not surprising that I see it in a different light every time I observe it. For instance, it looks rather formidable through the camera lens, tall and elegant.

But as Leslie pointed out, “These seem too small to be Ibis.” And when you see one next to a pair of Mallards

White-Faced Ibis

it doesn’t look as tall or elegant.

Even more amazingly, it’s hard to believe that the picture above is the same bird shown here,

with its dull brown colors suddenly translated into iridescent feathers.

Almost as hard as believing that this is the same bird seen in a different light.

Could this bird

actually be this bird from the same angle

but in a different light?

I’m afraid if I lived in California my hard drive would be as full of egret pictures as it is full of Great Blue Herons now, perhaps fuller since there are two kinds of egrets and only one Great Blue Heron. For better or worse, I saw more egrets in a single pond

than I’ll see in Western Washington all year, where we feel lucky to get an occasional Greater Egret. Of course, California actually has a third egret, the Cattle Egret but I don’t think I could distinguish it from the Snowy Egret.

My favorite egret is the Snowy Egret,

perhaps because I see it less often, perhaps because it’s plumage seems more photographic than that of the Great Egret,

which is certainly more imposing.

It’s no wonder that the beautiful Snowy Egret was nearly driven to extinction by hunters providing feathers for ladies’ hats.

It’s as striking standing still, feathers blowing in the breeze, as it is stalking the wetlands.

Not sure any of these are as good of photographs as I’ve gotten in previous visits, but I couldn’t resist taking another shot every time I saw one.