Trespasser.

I was going to the Lily pond to check out the snake population when I noticed a visitor walking across my bridge.

It was a Yellow Crowned Night Herron, looking at me kind of grumpy like.

He is all decked out in full mating plumage.

I took several more pictures and he finally glarred sternly at me, so I slowly backed out and he jumped up in the Willow tree and went to sleep.

They are such beautiful birds...even more so in their breeding plumage!

And they get really busy after a rain like we had, eating all those crawdads that make the mounds. This one looked stuffed.

Lovely birds! Lucky you! Thanks for sharing them with us Trois!

-Julie

You are welcome Julie. The longer we live here, the more wild critters are beginning to trust us, and are moving in to stay.

trois

Dearest Trois!!!! You are forgiven all the UGGHY snake pictures! What a beautiful bird, and one that I have never seen. Do we have them in FL?
Pati

I would have to believe they live in Florida. Here they eat crawdads almost exclusively, and you might see them standing in ditches. I have also seen them eat small 18 inch snakes. They are fairly large, bigger than a Little Blue Heron, smaller than a Great Blue. They are a beautiful bird.

Thanks, trois

trois, I am so glad that you take your camera with you when you go to check on things or on a walk. Thanks so much for sharing with us those beautifuls shots of a beautiful bird. I like the second shot best but they are all just great.

If you don't mind sharing this thread with me I will post a couple of pictures of the first Yellow headed Blackbirds that I have seen this year. Ignore the Brown headed Blackbird.

DonnaS

And here is another shot, had to take through the sliding glass door, can't open or they would fly. DonnaS

Thank you for those pictures, DonnaS. I have only seen the Yellow Headed Blackbirds once, at Jackson Hole, but was not able to get close enough for a picture.

trois

trois, I remember when I was in Jackson Hole, many years ago seeing flocks (whatever a large # of them are called) in a tree near where we were staying, and was amazed at the noise they made. Here I have seen them in my yard, 2,3,or 4 at a time for the past couple of summers. DonnaS

What a pretty bird Donna. I've never even heard of them before!

ETS - We have Yellow Crowned Night Heron here. I see them mostly on the barrier islands and intercoastal bay areas. They love to step behind things when you raise a camera! LOL

This message was edited Apr 27, 2005 12:13 PM

In the second picture I posted he was hiding his face behind some willow leaves. The Great Blues do the same thing, but are more comical. They land a hundred yards from the pond, then sneak up by running to a small tree, peeking around to see if they were spotted, then trotting to the next tree. Usually, the tree is only half as wide as the bird, so most of him is sticking out on both sides. They will spend an hour or more with this approach and usually chicken out before arrival. We no longer have any goldfish as the Cottonmouths have consumed them all. Now the small CMs have to eat Mosquito fish, like several every morning. We are not running out of these little fish though.

Beautiful pictures, Trois. I am seeing and learning about so many birds I never knew existed. Thank you.

I'm sure that you have a lot of birds never seen here. It is nice to exchange pictures, isn't it.

trois

Trois, what a beauty! You are so lucky to live there! exept for the snakes, of course!
Rutholive, what beautiful birds, so colorfull! Annie

trois, waiting for more of your interesting photos. Right now I am wishing the pesky White Crowned Sparrows would hurry on their way. I need to weed my peas but am waiting to remove the chicken wire that is over the top of them to keep the sparrows from eating the peas right down to the soil. I'm sure they will leave within the week, but boy are they busy eating every thing in sight right now. Donna

We seem to be returning to winter. I did have a couple of Swallow Tailed Kites circling the pond for a few minutes yesterday. They are mysterous and beautiful birds. They move too fast to take a picture.
Late yesterdsay we saw a Rose Breasted Grosbeak on the bird feeder. A first for us.

This message was edited Apr 30, 2005 9:35 AM

Wow, how cool, no picks? Annie

I am too slow. Also too surprised.

Trois We had a pretty bird show up for the RU also... I think you missed it... here it is... Tom

What a beauty he is. Thanks so much for showing this picture.

Joan

And the only bird I saw was a mexican buzzard.

Is that a female Roadrunner?

Good shot of the RoadRunner SilverFluter. Never see them up here of course. thanks for taking the picture for the rest of us. DonnaS

When We live in Chino Hills in the hills, they were all over, alway quacking about something, they make a strange noise! quite cute, they jump a lot, Annie

Glad y'all loved the pic. Trois, yes... I do beleive it was a female. The males usually show a bit of color on the sides of their neck.
We were just standing around talking plant stuff, I turned around and there it was, about 15 feet away when I first saw it. I was surprised it stayed around to let me fetch my camera and snap a few.

Good of her to stay. The mature males have a top crest usually. I must get more bird pictures.
trois

Annie, you mean they don't go "beep beep"? ;-)

LOL to s_l !!!
Pati

Yes they do, but only if they are in a hurry in heavy traffic.

or running away from the Coyote!!!!

True.

ROTFL :-D