Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Yellow Crowned Night Heron

I am linking up with Wild Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes

For this week's featured bird I am sharing the Yellow Crowned Night Heron. I have been reading about the Yellow Crowned Night Heron rookery in Baltimore for a few years now and have never visited.. I drive past the area every weekday going to work.. So on Saturday, hubby and I finally visited the rookery to see these gorgeous birds.

Our timing was perfect since the leaves are not blocking our view..Some of these shots were taken from the bridge looking down and some were from the trail's viewing platform near the Jones Falls.




A viewing platform near the falls was perfect for viewing the rookery and the Yellow Crowned Night Herons. Some were landing on the trees above our heads. We watched them as they broke off branches to add to their nest.

The Yellow Crowned Night Heron is a nocturnal heron and can be found breeding along wooded streams.



They have a black face and bill, with a white cheek and a yellow crown stripe. They have a gray body and yellow legs.




These herons above were not happy with each other.


The habitat around the rookery, a view from the bridge looking down.  It is located right next to the Jones Falls trail a bicycle-running trail. The trail starts at the Inner Harbor Baltimore and when finished will end at the Mount Washington Light Rail station.




Sorry for the overload of photos, I took so many different shots. I had a hard time choosing which photos to share.


Thanks for stopping by my post and for all the nice comments.

Join in and post your birdies and to see more beautiful and wonderful bird photos please visit:
 Stewart's Wild Bird Wednesday and Michelle's  Nature Notes.  Thanks to our host Michelle our host Stewart.  Happy Birding and have a wonderful week!

71 comments:

  1. HI Eileen Those Herons are beautiful birds and your shots of them are excellent. wonderful to see them at the nest site.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Eileen wundervoll
    diese Vogelart habe ich nicht gekannt
    LG in den Tag vom katerchen

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dearest Eileen;
    Wow!!! What GORGEOUS pictures of Yellow Crowned Night Heron♡♡♡ They are SO beautiful☆☆☆ I AM happy for you that you could have a good view and shared us these beautiful pictures of them. Love the third one and the way you closed with the last picture, (from amateur, haha).
    Need to cook dinner :-)

    Sending you Lots of Love and Hugs from Japan, xoxo Miyako*

    ReplyDelete
  4. such an interesting location to visit Eileen and great to see the beautiful herons in their natural surrounds

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great shots, Eileen--I would have had a difficult time choosing a favorite as well.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great looking bird!

    Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

    ReplyDelete
  7. I enjoy your photo overloads!
    Really great pictures, love them!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I see similar herons here in western Florida...but they have red in their crowns.

    Nice shots.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wonderful pictures! I can't believe you can get so close to them.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wow..they are so beautiful and your fantastic shots are amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  11. What a gorgeous setting. I like herons. We have regular night herons near me and they are fun to watch. Nice shots. I like that you could shoot down on the nest.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hello Eileen!!The Herons birds, are so beautiful !!What a beautiful place to make them nest!!Gorgeous pictures!Great shots indeed!!
    Have a happy week!Hugs!
    Dimi...

    ReplyDelete
  13. just marvelous! love these birds and their huge red eyes. :) that last shot is greatness!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Wow - you got some great shots! I love all your photos, and don't mind that you posted a bunch (I always post tons of photos too)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Beautifully photographed, Eileen
    They really captured perfectly.
    Greetings Irma

    ReplyDelete
  16. They are all fabulous shots of the herons!! I'm not sure if I'd be able to build my house with my husband either. We would both want it made differently!! Bet Momma heron won out!!

    ReplyDelete
  17. You got some wonderful photos of these herons. I really like their beautiful yellow crowns.

    ReplyDelete
  18. They are beautiful birds and you got some great captures, Eileen! Love the shot of the nest, too. I'm always amazed at the way the different birds build their nests.

    ReplyDelete
  19. so many wonderful photos. these birds are beautiful. i love how close you were able to zoom in especially on their nests. what a great day you've had. hope all is well. have a great day~

    ReplyDelete
  20. I loved this whole series! Wonderful...never apologize for including your great photos. (I only wish I could get that many good ones.) We see the yellow-crowned herons here in Fl. sometimes and how I would love to see their rookery.

    In Oregon we used to visit a Great Blue rookery and I loved that.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Wow, some fabulous shots. Beautiful birds.

    ReplyDelete
  22. You really captured some terrific shots of them!! Love the ones of them in the nest. I have never seen them nesting before. Awesome.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Eileen ... another super post and splendid photos of this interesting Heron.

    ReplyDelete
  24. wonderful siting, we'e seen the black crowned night heron around here but not the yellow crowned one ...

    ReplyDelete
  25. Fantastic, great observations and photos. I don't know how common the Yellow Crowned Night Heron is but I know night herons only as shy, hidden and rare birds.

    ReplyDelete
  26. These photos are fascinating. I am glad that you included so many. Beautiful face on this little heron. And love the ruffled feathers on the two birds somewhat miffed with each other. Finally, the image of the falls is enchanting.

    ReplyDelete
  27. They are beautiful birds. I love the shots you got of the nesting pairs.

    ReplyDelete
  28. We're too far north to have these guys, but they're very good looking herons! Great photos!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Aren't these amazing shots?! No wonder you had to share.
    beauties...

    ReplyDelete
  30. Oh Eileen, not to worry about showing so many photos, I enjoyed each and every view of these fascinating birds. I especially liked the shot of the two squabbling with each other. It looks like they have a beautiful place to live.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Yellow-crowned Night Herons are simply gorgeous in their nuptial plumage and your photographs are really quite stunning.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Love all your photos, definitely not an overload. This is definitely the place to be, gorgeous views and great birding.

    ReplyDelete
  33. I enjoyed all the different images Eileen, all the different views and perspectives!!

    Pretty waterfalls, and your images are exceptional!!

    ReplyDelete
  34. Gorgeous birds. Love those red eyes.

    ReplyDelete
  35. The last of the Herons is magnificent, thanks Eileen, you are one of the best.

    ReplyDelete
  36. I can see why you had trouble choosing! Love the bird-eyed view of the herons in their nest very much, and also the next to last capture!
    Wishing you a wonderful Easter:)

    ReplyDelete
  37. Amazing photos of the heron and their cluster. So beautiful is your last shot. Gorgeous !
    I wish you a Happy Easter, Eileen !
    Best regards, Synnöve

    ReplyDelete
  38. Just lovely shots! I had never heard of these before until in charleston recently when I was able to photograph several nesting pairs and their babies. Lovely share!!!

    ReplyDelete
  39. Wonderful photographs of the herons and their habitat!

    ReplyDelete
  40. gorgeous water fall ... so lovely. looks like a beautiful park/area. ( :

    ReplyDelete
  41. Wow, what incredible photographs! The habitat around the rookery is awesome and I can't believe that awesome view from the bridge looking down! Your heron shots are truly outstanding! Great post!
    Nancy

    ReplyDelete
  42. Lucky you! They are very RARE here!

    ReplyDelete
  43. These herons are beautiful ;-)
    Céline & Philippe

    ReplyDelete
  44. Hello Eileen,
    I can only imagine your excitement with those gorgeous Night herons!
    The male in nuptial plumage are magnificent!
    Thanks for sharing these lovely photos and for showing their environment!
    Keep well!

    ReplyDelete
  45. Eileen, this is no overload of shots! They are all magnificent! What a wonderful place to visit!

    ReplyDelete
  46. Beautiful birds! Thank you for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  47. Wonderful shots all of them! Happy Easter!

    ReplyDelete
  48. You got some great shots of this heron. Distinctive markings, very unique-looking birds.

    ReplyDelete
  49. Eileen, you could never 'overload' your photos, because they are always so amazing and interesting and this series is no exception!

    I enjoyed seeing the bright yellow goldfinches today--Spring is here, despite our being 'sucker-punched' by Old man winter yesterday! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  50. Absolutely fantastic Eileen! That last photo with those bright red eyes, gorgeous!

    ReplyDelete
  51. Lindas fotos, lindos pássaros
    Você nos deu de presente!
    obrigada por compartilhar
    bjs Zizi

    ReplyDelete
  52. What a pretty little bird. Don't think I've ever seen that little guy. It's so pretty. Thanks for sharing.
    Hugs,
    Betsy

    ReplyDelete
  53. Great series of the heron.... Really a nocturnal heron. How interesting..... Michelle

    ReplyDelete
  54. How beautiful these birds are! Your photos are amazing! xo Karen

    ReplyDelete
  55. What a wonderful series, Eileen! You've captured some great images. I love their yellow crowns.

    ReplyDelete
  56. Gorgeous shots ... it's a magnificent bird. Can understand it was hard to pick wich images to post :)

    Happy Easter, Eileen!

    Irene

    ReplyDelete
  57. Tremendous pictures Eileen and what a wonderful place to visit. I always like to take pictures of herons and egrets as without exception they are so photogenic. They tend to stand still some of the time too which helps my chances of gettting a good shot!

    Happy Easter to you and hubby.

    ReplyDelete
  58. What incredible herons, Eileen. Terrific photos of a magnificent bird!

    ReplyDelete
  59. What wonderful views of the herons and their nests! In our neighborhood (south Florida) we have a small Yellow-crowned Night Heron rookery with 5 or 6 nests, plus 2-3 Green Heron nests. Some have young but all are very hard to see through the thick foliage.

    ReplyDelete
  60. What a great Saturday Walk you had! Enjoyed seeing these birds, they are beautiful creatures.

    ReplyDelete
  61. I've only seen the Blue Heron at the park. Your photos are spectacular!! This looks like a lovely place just perfect for nesting. Thanks for sharing, Eileen.

    ReplyDelete
  62. love that damn shot, so beautiful and the herons just below it.

    ReplyDelete
  63. with photos such as these a lot is good. :) Not often that happens so we have to take the chance. :)

    ReplyDelete
  64. WIP .... how cool these birds!! Truly beautiful. I've never seen this. Great with that yellow crest. I like photo 3, 8 and 10 very beautiful. My compliments.

    ReplyDelete
  65. Wonderful photos, I can totally see why you couldn't decide which ones to use, they are all so good. What a treat to see these reclusive characters.

    ReplyDelete
  66. Oh my goodness, you got the pair!

    ReplyDelete
  67. Wow!!! Great shots Eileen! I love these herons. It looks like everyone is migrating. I saw my first one and hope to see more again someday. They are lovely lovely birds.

    ReplyDelete
  68. They are lovely birds, and great photos. I like this time of year, when the leaves are down and you can see much more!

    ReplyDelete

Hello, thank you for visiting my blog. I always appreciate your comments.

BTW, Anonymous comments unless a name is included will not be published. Also, comments with links will be deleted.

Have a happy day, Eileen

Happy Monday!

Wishing everyone a great day and a ha ppy new week! "One small positive thought in the morning can change your whole day." "T...