13 October 2013. Valley Inn, Hamilton ON. A week or so ago I wrote about the Black-crowned Night Heron, an interesting encounter. Today I went back to that same location because it can be so fruitful with all kinds of oddities, most of them drawn by the shallow waters and deep silt.
My mental list for the couple of hours spent there include: two singing Carolina Wrens, three Green-winged Teal, large flocks of Cedar Waxwings, a fast-moving cover-seeking Winter Wren and a small group of young Hooded Mergansers.
I watched a similar group of young Hooded Mergansers at this time last year. Then, as now, they employed a curious way of fishing in shallow waters by sinking almost imperceptibly rather than diving. Whether this is a seasonal technique I don’t know, neither of my best reference books make mention of it.
Herons stole the show today. First a young Green Heron stalking up and down a waterside branch, its long toes placed slowly and deliberately as it moved towards a possible catch. I saw it dart at and catch a small fish only once, but it had endless patience, sometimes holding motionless for 10 or 20 minutes waiting for something it thought was worth going after.
A Great Egret flew in, pushed the Green Heron aside and perched conveniently a few feet from me. The brilliant white of these birds make them very difficult photography targets, the detail of the various tracts of feathers usually vanishes in a glare of over-exposure. This close I felt I might do better and enjoyed some success.
A young Great Blue Heron paced slowly around the edges of the pond, stepping with almost delicate precision and eventually capturing several meals. My best photo is almost grotesque, capturing head-on a portrait of a bird perfectly adapted for its waters-edge life.
This post contains photos only visible if you’re on the website, not if you’re reading this as an email.