That turned out to not be a reflection at all.
1/4000, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
Yesterday morning at Bear River MBR I didn’t take many photos of this adult Black-crowned Night Heron while ‘he’ was perched on matted phrags because the setting was busy.
1/4000, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
But when he roused I thought his hairdo was pretty cute, so I fired away.
When birds rouse it’s sometimes an indicator of imminent takeoff, so that’s what I prepared myself for.
1/5000, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
This time I was right. He took off almost immediately after the rouse.
1/5000, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
This is my favorite shot of him in flight. I wish he’d turned his head my way a little.
When I’m checking my images for sharpness during processing I always look at them at “100%”. This version of the first photo above is at slightly less than 100% and it shows a pretty normal looking catch light in the eye – “normal” except for it being a double catchlight, which isn’t unusual when birds are in or near water.
But this version of photo #2 above shows something different in his eye. At first I thought it was a reflection of some of the phrags between the bird and me, which would have been highly unusual but that’s the way my instincts took me. For longer than I like to admit.
And then it hit me. When he roused he didn’t just raise the feathers of his black crown. He also raised his cheek feathers (auriculars) and some of them just beneath his eye were sticking up in front of his eye. And they fooled me into thinking they were reflections of phrags.
This was the first time I’ve seen, or noticed, a bird raising its cheek feathers straight upwards during a rouse.
Live and learn. No biggie, but interesting, at least to me.
Ron
Love that ‘do’. And your eye for minutae.
Fantastic photos. He looks like a different bird when standing than when flying.
Thank You and Take Care,
Kaye
“He looks like a different bird when standing than when flying.”
You’re the second one to say that in a comment, Kaye. It must be true… 🙂
Thanks, EC.
All very interesting to me Ron. I have never seen one with the raised hair and I have never seen one take off or even more. Everyone I have seen is just standing still posing like your first shot. Excellent photos all. And I guess I should mention too that I rarely seen them at all.
Everett, this is turning out to be a very good year for BKNH’s at the refuge. Yesterday I probably saw more than 2 dozen of them, mostly juveniles. I saw four of them before I even got to the auto tour route.
Neat photos and it’s been great seeing so many black-crowned night herons on the refuge again. I have seen the cheek feathers of our parrots raise but their feathers are not as long, they are short and stiff. Usually it is during a stretch but I have seen the feathers erect when the bird is angry or defensive. Then you can see their ears.
Thanks, April. Yes, there are lots of them this year. I saw 4 of them before I even go onto the auto tour route – just before the bridge. Mostly juveniles.
Boy, you really dig in. Love it!
I was drawn to what looked like score marks on the bill, and wondering how they came to be.
Your photos really allow for detailed examination.
“Boy, you really dig in.”
I do have that tendency, Michael. When it comes to birds I’m a sucker for minutia.
On the other hand, I didn’t even notice those “score marks” until you mentioned them.
Interesting and fun! 🙂 1st flight shot looks like a totally different bird from the one hunkered down on the phrags. They always look “frumpy” to me on the ground. 😉 Appears to have more forward facing eyes than many birds. Feathers in front of the eye would be confusing.
Grackles and a Robin are “on” the adult Magpies trying to feed the fledgings – not the fledglings so much at this point.
Frumpy describes them well, Judy. Not sure why that’s true but for me it is.
I wonder why the rouse so typically happens just before take-off ?
could it function as a sensory weathervane, detecting breeze
direction and strength ? or……..
Kris, I’d say it’s to rearrange their feathers into their typical natural pattern and placement, which would make flight more efficient. Feathers can easily get jumbled up a little. Or a lot.