Birds and Nature

I was able to get these super close-ups by using my car as a blind. The heron was less than 20 feet away but undisturbed as I was very quiet and moved slowly and stayed in my car. I took the pics with my Canon Xti with a 400mm lens,a 1.4 extender--as the camera is not full framed there is another 1.6 multiplier that nets about a 1000 mm equivalent--plus I cropped the photo but only a little. I really like the deep chestnut color on the plumage of this young heron. SeEtta

I found this apparent migrant yesterday on the east section of the Canon City, CO Riverwalk. Though I looked for it today, I did not refind it so expect it just stopped to forage while migrating. It is possible that this is a female heron as it appears to meet the criteria the Birds of North America online description of a female bird: "Bent and Oberholser described females as differing from males in having chestnut streaks on crown, and having sides of head and neck streaked with chestnut, buff and dusky." SeEtta