Heron at Lake Seminole Park

I am not exactly sure which bird this is.
I did eliminate the Bittern, because he is not brown.

From a distance I told Jimmy it was a Green Heron.

But when I saw that LONG neck I decided it was not,
but the body is so small compared to the neck.
Sorry that the photos are not better.
The light was bad, and there was a chain link
fence between us, although the bird is not captive.

I have now decided again that it is a juvenile Green Heron.

My reference book is the Sibley Guide to Birds, page 64,
best I can tell Ninth Printing (pages could vary).

But what happens to that neck as it matures?

What does everybody out there think it is?

Great Blue Heron at Veteran's Park October 2008

Thursday I went looking for the Great Blue Heron

at Veterans Park in Spring City, Tennessee.

I didn't see my buddy anywhere.

So I decided to show some photos taken of him during October 2008.

Hopefully he will return soon, the park seems empty without him.

Sorry for another rushed post, just SO much going on right now.

Great Blue Heron in flight at Lake Seminole Park

The Great Blue Heron were already building their nest in mid February at Lake Seminole Park.This Great Blue Heron took flight and I almost missed it.

I love the shot when he was beginning to land.

He did not stay on the old tree long. He went into a tree right above him. At this location I could not see the nest (if there was one) due to the curve around the pond and this area is fenced off. Notice his foot, he is fixing to take off into the tree. It was almost as if he just jumped up into the tree.

Little Blue Heron

Juvenile Little Blue Heron's are white. Often confused with juvenile Snowy Egrets, which is what I almost did with this one. This photo was taken October 28, 2008 at Lake Seminole Park, as was the previous post (of the Snowy Egret). I started looking at this long neck compared to the Snowy Egret, tried to figure out what it could be, went to the National Geographic Field Guide and have decided it is a Little Blue Heron. Notice the difference in the bill too.

For those of you wondering, these are still post I prepared before I left on vacation. I have very unreliable internet access right now and have visited very few blogs, and very quickly the ones I have. We leave St Pete Beach on Saturday morning. I have taken LOTS of photographs this week in St Pete. Haven't spent as much time reading poolside as I normally do, keep thinking of all those birds out there needing to be photographed. I promise I have plans to catch up on all I have missed while I have been gone.

Black Crowned Night Heron

This Black Crowned Night Heron was a first for me.

The first 3 photographs were taken outside a bird sanctuary, north of Maderia Beach, Florida. He was not part of the sanctuary, but lived in the trees close by.

All the photographs were taken October 29, 2008.

The last photograph was taken at Lake Seminole Park in Seminole, Florida.

Not sure it is the Black Crowned, but if not I do not know what it is.

Great Blue Heron looking to the sky

We found this place to visit in the evenings while at St Pete Beach that the Heron and Egrets visit regularly.It is rare to go there and not see at least one heron or egret.
What was strange about this evening in October 2008, was the eye was on the sky.
There were 2 Great Blue Heron there that evening, both were keeping their eye on the sky, not the water.

The reason they are always there is because they do so well with fishing.

Somebody failed to tell them you can't fish with your head up.

We turned to look-bet he thought "Got ya!!"

But we never did see anything.

I like all the body shots, guess they have trouble keeping their balance while trying to look at the sky. I have never seen under all those feathers before.

He almost appeared to have a broken wing at one point.

But they finally both flew and the show was over for one evening.

We will be at sea all day today.

Tricolored Heron at Lake Seminole Park

Tricolored Heron at Lake Seminole Park in Seminole, Florida.

Photograph taken October 2008.

Today we will be at Montego Bay, Jamaica.

Great Blue Heron at St Pete Beach

We are leaving this morning on vacation for 3 weeks. The first part of the vacation we will be going on a 10 day cruise to the Panama Canal. The post each day will tell where we should be that day. Hopefully I will come home with some awesome stories and photographs to go with them. I do have some photos picked out and set up to post everyday, so I hope you will continue to visit while I am gone. I will catch up with all of you when I return. I do not think I will have a reliable internet service any of the 3 weeks. If I visit at all that means I was able to get some internet service, but it may not last.

2 Great Blue Herons at Veterans Park

I have not been to Spring City since before Christmas,

these photographs were taken late September 2008. When he flew I must have been looking in the direction of the sun, because all of the photos while he was flying are a little hazy.

Notice the 2nd Great Blue Heron in the background.

Great Blue Heron earlier this week at Veteran's Park

I am still visiting my hubby in Spring City a day or two each week. We don't have the new home away from home livable yet. Well, it has rained all week, and it rained while I was there. But I did venture out of the motel long enough to mail a photography order and since it was just drizzling at the time I thought I should go check on Veterans Park at the edge of Watts Bar Lake.I was shocked to say the least. This was the first time I had seen this beautiful lake during the winter. Granted Veterans Park is at the edge and can't even see the lake real good from this point, except the edge you are standing at. This spot is where I have been photographing the Great Blue Heron since Jimmy was transferred to Spring City.
Well, there he is, but with the lack of other humans he was more skittish than usual, and flew as soon as I got this first photo. I wasn't ready, and did not capture a clear photo at all while he was in flight. There he is on the other side.
So I decided to walk on around the walking trail, and come to another one.
This time I was just slightly more ready.

But as I tried to keep up with him as he was passing me by I clipped his wing off. These birds are very large and that wing span is huge. According to Sibley Guide to Birds the wing span is 72 inches, and I believe it. Think about that, I am 65 inches tall.

He continued on to the other side.

These photographs were all I got for my efford out in the drizzling rain.
That is why I have been staying in the house.

Except Richard At The Water is trying his best to get me interested in what is beyond my window, so I bought new types of bird seed (even the expensive stuff) and added some food to new areas around the yard. But I did not do it in my PJ's Richard, I got dressed to do it.