Little Green Heron

Here’s another bird I’ve been wanting to get a photo of for a long time – a Little Green Heron.

Wow – what a shy bird! The first time I discovered him, I snuck up alongside this very murky little pond in my car. He didn’t move, as it appeared he was used to cars driving by. I changed lenses, put my window down quietly, and pointed towards him. AAAACK! He took one look and freaked out!!! He flew away as fast as he could.

The next day, my husband spotted him in the pond and called me, but I couldn’t go there. So – I waited one more day thinking the chances would be decent he’d be there again if he was spotted twice in the same location. Success! He was hunting for frogs and didn’t seem to mind me snapping away from my “car blind”. I will go back a few more times to see if I can a few other poses of him.

Cool bird! My birding book says they are a “rare migrant from April to November” and that they nest off by themselves rather than a group (unlike Great Blue Herons, who nest in big colonies called “rookeries”). This is a male – I can identify him by his bright orange legs.