Thursday, October 14, 2010

Juvenile Tricolored Heron takes flight!

Birding Hilton Head Island and Pinckney Island NWR, SC
While the first baby Tricolored Heron squawked a bit for food, the second baby Tricolored was busy doing something else...

Baby #2 doesn't have quite the hairdo as Baby #1, but he's still cute with those downy flyaway feathers on top.

...Baby #2 was determined to move and started exercising his wings, flapping and bobbing around.

...soon he was riding up and down on the willowy branch he was using as a perch...

...and then he took flight!
I think this was his first flight because I had been there all morning and had not seen any other flights.

22 comments:

Chris said...

Wow so that was probably a big event for you to see its first flight after following him like this... And you got perfect pictures! Wow... That's really cool!

Laure Ferlita said...

You can almost hear him thinking "oh, no, now whatta I do?!!! Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

Cool shots and what a wonderful experience for you!

Out on the prairie said...

Unique catch,I really like the herons.

Elizabeth said...

Aw, baby, your downy parts are so precious.

Roy said...

Up, up, and awaaaayyyyy! Great shots, Kelly.

Wanda..... said...

He looks to be saying, "I'm freee!"

Perfect photos, Kelly!

Jeni said...

Wow ~ ... yup simply WOW !

Montanagirl said...

Fantastic, Kelly! Such fun to catch him taking off.

Dawn said...

This is Incredible!
I love the hair-do!
:))

Elaine said...

Wonderful capture, Kelly! These guys are just so cute.

holdingmoments said...

What a great moment to capture Kelly.
Excellent.

Anonymous said...

Great shots of such an unusual coloured bird.

Janice K said...

What a neat experience! and such GREAT pictures!

Hilke Breder said...

Splendid images, Kelly. They leave me speechless. Getting great photos of birds is a matter of luck, patience and know-how. You had all three.

ShySongbird said...

Great (and humorous) photos Kelly, the last one looked just like it had bounced up from a trampoline...which I suppose it had in a way :)

Larry said...

Oh my gosh-those photos are great! We've had TCH's in CT but never got to see one yet.Terrific stuff!

Debbie Miller @HooootOwl said...

Too adorable .... beautiful series. Also enjoyed previous post, awesome interactions captured.

Chris Petrak said...

Your tricolor photos brought an uncontrolled smile of sheer delight, while your impressions elicited contemplation and serenity - good art with the camera lens and the brush!

Michaela said...

What a great thing to witness! He seems a bit scared with his eyes wide open like that... Cool shots!

Kelly said...

...thanks, everyone! It was so interesting to sit and watch this little family. I had watched them for several days, and then to finally see them fly was so exciting.

NatureFootstep said...

I don´t know what to say. So good shots of that event. Something to be proud of. :)

Mary said...

Wonderful photos! He looks a bit unsteady :-)