Green Heron Family

[Allen Sparks]

• Canon EOS 7D Mark II
• EF400mm f/4 DO IS II USM +1.4x III
• ƒ/6.3
• 560mm
• 1/400s
• ISO 500
• Allen Sparks
• Flash not fired
• Fri, 29 June 2018 7:10 AM
• Adobe Photoshop CC 2018 (Windows)

• Canon EOS 7D Mark II
• EF400mm f/4 DO IS II USM +1.4x III
• ƒ/6.3
• 560mm
• 1/2000s
• ISO 640
• Allen Sparks
• Flash not fired
• Sun, 01 July 2018 7:14 AM
• Adobe Photoshop CC 2018 (Windows)

• Canon EOS 7D Mark II
• EF400mm f/4 DO IS II USM +1.4x III
• ƒ/7.1
• 560mm
• 1/2000s
• ISO 640
• Allen Sparks
• Flash not fired
• Sun, 01 July 2018 7:12 AM
• Adobe Photoshop CC 2018 (Windows)

• Canon EOS 7D Mark II
• EF400mm f/4 DO IS II USM +1.4x III
• ƒ/5.6
• 560mm
• 1/2000s
• ISO 640
• Allen Sparks
• Flash not fired
• Sun, 08 July 2018 7:37 AM
• Adobe Photoshop CC 2018 (Windows)

• Canon EOS 7D Mark II
• EF400mm f/4 DO IS II USM +1.4x III
• ƒ/6.3
• 560mm
• 1/2500s
• ISO 640
• Allen Sparks
• Flash not fired
• Fri, 13 July 2018 7:09 AM
• Adobe Photoshop CC 2018 (Windows)

I discovered a family of Green Herons in a cove at my neighborhood lake back in June. Four juveniles used a downed tree over the lake as their home base as they learned to fish and gain independence.

Image #1
Here are the four juveniles on the first day that I discovered them. Note the down on the head of each bird.

Image #2
The juveniles would make occasional expeditions out from their tree as they learned to fish. This image is of a juvenile returning after such a fishing trip.

Image #3
The juveniles were getting less and less attention from the adults but an adult would occasionally fly to the tree from time to time. Here is an adult about to land on their tree. I didn't notice any juveniles being fed by an adult after the first day that I found them.

Image #4
The number of juveniles on the tree dwindled to one after Independence Day fireworks must have scattered the other birds. The lone bird left became very possessive of the tree and would chase off any other bird that tried to land on it as you see here.

Image #5
The lone juvenile eventually left the tree and I have not seen one since. An occasional adult can now be seen in the cove (pictured here) and sometimes visits the tree that the juveniles once used.

 

[Gabriela Plesea]

Hello Allen!

Thank you so much for this, I love the little juvies! Beautifully captured and I like the story.

Colours look great and the birds in flight look very sharp - great timing! Well processed too.

My favourite frame is the first one with the little ones - just too special! And I really appreciate the information provided as it helps us understand their behaviour:5

Looking on my laptop right now but will be back tomorrow, would love to see this on the big screen.

Kind regards,