{"id":11179,"date":"2013-01-06T06:20:26","date_gmt":"2013-01-06T13:20:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=11179"},"modified":"2013-01-07T12:33:10","modified_gmt":"2013-01-07T19:33:10","slug":"black-crowned-night-heron-on-ice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2013\/01\/06\/black-crowned-night-heron-on-ice\/","title":{"rendered":"Black-crowned Night Heron On Ice"},"content":{"rendered":"

Black-crowned Night Herons are the most widespread heron in the world, breeding on all continents except Antarctica and Australia.\u00a0 They’re relatively common in northern Utah, although it’s somewhat unusual for me to see them around here\u00a0during winter.<\/p>\n

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\u00a01\/1600, f\/8, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, natural light<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

So two days ago I was surprised to find this juvenile still lurking around the wetlands of the Great Salt Lake.\u00a0 We’re in the middle of an inversion which means it’s very cold (I was shooting in temps of -10 degrees F yesterday morning) so most still water is frozen solid.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This bird\u00a0was standing on ice with a thin layer of snow on top.<\/p>\n

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\u00a01\/1600, f\/8, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, natural light<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0Juveniles look very different from adults.\u00a0 Instead of the basic black, white and gray colors of the adults these young birds are brown-streaked ventrally…<\/p>\n

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\u00a01\/1250, f\/8, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, natural light<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0and mostly solid brown dorsally.\u00a0 This orange-chrome eye color will turn bright red in the adult.<\/p>\n

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\"black<\/p>\n

\u00a01\/1000, f\/8, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, natural light<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I didn’t realize it at first but this bird was in hunting mode.\u00a0 There’s a patch of open water just out of frame in front of the heron and the bird is watching it for fish activity.\u00a0 One time it made an incredibly fast move for a fish from this position but it missed.\u00a0 The heron didn’t stand any closer to the open water because the ice is very thin there.\u00a0 In fact, it’s very thin right where the bird is standing.<\/p>\n

Notice that in this image the\u00a0ice\u00a0under the foot appears normal.<\/p>\n

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\"black<\/p>\n

\u00a01\/1600, f\/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f\/4,\u00a0natural light<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0But after a few minutes that slowly began to change.\u00a0 Thin ice is flexible and the weight of the bird is beginning to bend and crack the ice, allowing water into the resulting depression.<\/p>\n

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\"black<\/p>\n

\u00a01\/1600, f\/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, natural light<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Here the ice continues to sink and the depression grow.\u00a0 I’m sure the\u00a0heron is getting “that sinking feeling” and I like the slightly goofy and perplexed\u00a0expression of the bird as it appears to try to figure out just what’s going on.<\/p>\n

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\"black<\/p>\n

\u00a01\/1600, f\/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, natural light<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Finally the bird decides to “abandon ship” and find a more stable hunting platform.<\/p>\n

I suspect that seeing this species on ice seems somewhat incongruous to many folks who are used to seeing it in more moderate climates.<\/p>\n

Ron<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Black-crowned Night Herons are the most widespread heron in the world, breeding on all continents except Antarctica and Australia.\u00a0 They’re relatively common in northern Utah, although it’s somewhat unusual for me to see them around here\u00a0during winter.   \u00a01\/1600, f\/8, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, natural light So two days ago I was surprised to find this juvenile still lurking around the wetlands of the Great Salt Lake.\u00a0 We’re in the middle of an inversion which means it’s very cold (I was shooting in temps of -10 degrees F yesterday morning) so most still water is frozen solid.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This bird\u00a0was standing on ice with a thin layer of snow on top.     \u00a01\/1600, f\/8, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, natural light \u00a0Juveniles look very different from adults.\u00a0 Instead of the basic black, white and gray colors of the adults these young birds are brown-streaked ventrally…     \u00a01\/1250, f\/8, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, natural light \u00a0and mostly solid brown dorsally.\u00a0 This orange-chrome eye color will turn bright red in the adult.     \u00a01\/1000, f\/8, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, natural light I didn’t realize it at first but this bird was in hunting mode.\u00a0 There’s a patch of open water just out of frame in front of the heron and the bird is watching it for fish activity.\u00a0 One time it made an incredibly fast move for a fish from this position but it missed.\u00a0 The heron didn’t stand any closer to the open water because the ice is…<\/p>\n

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