Black-crowned Night Heron

(549 views)
by Terry Costales

The bird on the left is a young adult who won't achieve the look of the mature bird on its right for another year.

Black-crowned Night Heron (nycticorax nicticorax)

(545 views)
by Terry Costales

At the sanctuary, there is a group of palm trees next to the large pond that provides prime nesting spots. It is fenced off to ensure the breeding birds are not disturbed. In late March, this was one of many night herons nesting amongst the snowy and great egrets. Its usually yellow legs are pink because it's breeding season.

Juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron

(537 views)
by Terry Costales

Taken late March, this bird is probably a year or two old and has the yellow legs you see on both juveniles and non breeding adults. They get their full adult plumage in the third year. If you look at this shot and the thumbnail below it, you can see they are roughly the same size and shape. Nice of them to pose for their comparison shots.

Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)

(534 views)
by Terry Costales

Seeing a bright red eye on a bird, to me, is quite startling. Although the heron appears to be standing one-legged, the other leg is actually stretched out in front, grasping another branch.

Black-crowned Night Heron

(482 views)
by Terry Costales

This bedraggled juvenile black-crowned night heron was perched on the dock near the boat we were going to use. I hoped it wasn't a harbinger of how our trip would turn out.

Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)

(481 views)
by Terry Costales

An adult night heron in full breeding plumage showing off its pink legs which are yellow the rest of the year.

Avocet non-breeding plumage

(445 views)
by Terry Costales

This photo was taken late March of this year and many birds were still in just black and white. For courting and breeding the necks and chest acquire a rusty or tan color. They really seem to enjoy their mud-flats.

White Pelicans

(441 views)
by Terry Costales

Taking photos from a boat was a new experience. I was able to get much closer to this flock of Pelicans before they took flight. These appear to be Australian Pelicans because of the pink bills. Or do American White Pelicans have pink bills in the winter? Further research needed.

Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus)

(441 views)
by Terry Costales

This snowy owl at the Dublin Zoo was very quiet but, if it had spoken, it would have had an unusual voice.

Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)

(438 views)
by Terry Costales

This female Killdeer is standing over eggs in its "nest." Three eggs are actually present but only one is clearly visible. Even the clearly visible one is very well camouflaged. It is reputed their call sounds like "kill deer" and thus the name. I don't hear it myself but maybe that's just me.

Harbor Seal

(437 views)
by Terry Costales

This photo of a Harbor Seal was taken very near the Lucy Evans Interpretive Center at the bird sanctuary. I was very surprised to see it but the ranger verified that they have been known to occasionally appear.

Killdeer in Flight

(435 views)
by Terry Costales

Killdeer are a shy and fast bird. Consequently I rarely get a good shot of one. I was lucky this day to get that elusive shot.

Avocet in breeding plumage (Recurvirostra americana)

(435 views)
by Terry Costales

This view shows the extent of the buff coloring avocets acquire on neck and chest in the breeding season. They stand about 15 to 20 inches tall and Wikipedia has more info on these birds if you're interested.

Killdeer eggs

(434 views)
by Terry Costales

This is a photo of three very well camouflaged eggs in a Killdeer "nest." Because Killdeer often lay their eggs on gravel, the parking lot at the sanctuary had become a favorite nesting spot for them. Unfortunately a parking lot is a dangerous place for eggs, which leads to much failure for the Killdeer who lay eggs there.

Breeding pair of Avocets

(434 views)
by Terry Costales

Taken Early May, they are guarding a nest and looking lovely. Maybe next trip out there I can get a shot of some Avocet chicks.

Wood Pigeon (Columba palumbus)

(432 views)
by Terry Costales

Of course England has it's fair share of "flying rats". For some reason this one in Hyde Park seemed more like an actual bird to me than just feathered vermin. I'm sure if I was there long enough they would become just as annoying as pigeons are here at home.

Zebra (Equus burchelli boehmi)

(430 views)
by Terry Costales

A beautiful Zebra with gorgeous long lashes. I would love to see Zebras in California fields alongside the horses, sheep and cows. We have Ostriches and Llamas, why not Zebras?

Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)

(429 views)
by Terry Costales

The female Killdeer in this picture is adopting a wounded bird pose and making a distress call. She is trying to lure me away from her nest by convincing me she is easy prey. Luckily for her I only wanted her photo.

American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos)

(429 views)
by Terry Costales

Yesterday I thought these birds might be Australian Pelicans but with further research I found they are American White Pelicans in non-breeding plumage. I'm glad that's settled.

Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus)

(428 views)
by Terry Costales

In all my visits to this area over the past year, I finally captured a decent shot of a Harrier. Up until now, they have always been too distant and too fast.

Great Egret (Ardea Alba)

(428 views)
by Terry Costales

These large egrets are graceful and breathtaking in flight. I watched this bird flying back and forth several times bringing nesting material back to it's mate. There was only one pair that I saw amongst dozens of the smaller Snowy Egrets.

Great Egret (ardea alba)

(428 views)
by Terry Costales

This shows all the markings you would look for in identifying this bird in the breeding season. The lacy plumes on the back and the green/blue "mask" that extends from the base of the bill to the eye are only present during this time. The Audubon Society came into existence to stop the extermination of great Egrets by plume hunters and has this bird as it's logo. Great Egrets are found world-wide, even in Australia .

Warthog

(428 views)
by Terry Costales

The profile of a warthog is not handsome. Neither is any other view. They do have their niche in nature, but they just don't look good filling it.

Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)

(428 views)
by Terry Costales

This photo caught a sleepy juvenile unaware of the camera. Like yesterday's photo, I love the narrow field of focus.

Tortoise

(427 views)
by Terry Costales

These two large tortoises ambled about and were not as sluggish as one might expect. I dont know which species of tortoise this is because I forgot to photograph the sign.