More Black-crowned Night Heron photos...

Birding Hilton Head Island, SC and Pinckney Island at the Ibis Pond Rookery

...continued from the previous Black-crowned Night Heron post.

...more photos of the Black-crowned Night Herons. I can never get enough of these twilight-loving, stocky little waders! I love their "hunched-over" posture and amazing red eyes.

...this is the same bird from the previous post. He flew over my head after leaving the juvenile and landed in the pine trees behind me. He sat there quietly for a long time. I took 67 photos of this guy sitting in this exact posture (Why? I do that a lot. We are so lucky we live with digital.) He can totally do "statue." He was so close I didn't even have to creep up on him.

...same bird, similar stance, just not cropped as much.

...after the previous bird continued to be a statue, I decided to look back at the island. This bird caught my eye. I don't remember seeing the babies through the lens (but I forget a lot). It was a total surprise when I zoomed in on the photo and saw the two babies peeping out.

...back to the original juvenile. While the papa (or mama) sat in the pine behind me, this juvenile was still hoping for more food.

...the juvenile wing markings are beautiful. Also...if you look closely you can see the sun shining through the gular pouch.

...hard to believe amber color in his eye will slowly change to the bright red, and the brown and white will eventually become black, grey and white. The browns and ambers really help camouflage him when he's in the shadows.