Sunday, February 25, 2007

On Berkeley Lake This Morning



A Black-Crowned Night-Heron (I think). The body color is certainly that of a Great Blue Heron, although the short neck and thicker head reflects the Black-Crowned.

P.S. The more I think about it, this beautiful specimen probably isn't a Black-Crowned Night Heron. I've contacted the Colorado Birding Society for help with the identification. My hunch is that this is a Great Blue Heron whose distintive long, curved neck is hidden by the rear-view shot I took. We'll see...

P.P.S Okay, definitive information from the Colorado Birding folks: "Your photo is of a Great Blue Heron that is hunkered down. Notice long two toned bill, blackish head plumes, and blackish feathers on bottom of throat. A Black crowned Night Heron has a white throat, white plumes if present, and bill about the same length as its head.

Good birding!

Rebecca Kosten and all!


3 comments:

Doogman said...

Nice shot! How close did you get? This is quite the close-up!

Unknown said...

The Night-Herons have always seemed to be certainly wary but not intimidated by human presence. I was about ten feet away (luckily David had taken Sarah up ahead) when I got the shot.

Unknown said...

Ah, Jeffrey... He/she is a beautiful specimen. I mean, just look at the boa hanging prominent from his/her neck. Actually, I'm not sure it's a Night-Heron and am awaiting a professional opinion.

As to Larry Manzanares who was found to be in possession of a stolen laptop, my first question would be why a District Court Judge would find life more comfortable in the Denver City Attorney's Office, rather than on the bench. That's a fairly significant downward leap that, possibly, carries an untold story with it.