Monochrome Monday

Tags

Ocean City Welcome Center, postaday, white ibis

White Ibis escaping from clutch of hungry juvenile.

Flight of the White Ibis

Tags

Ocean City Welcome Center, postaday, white ibis

In the preceding post, a juvenile White Ibis was pestering its parent with its demands for food.

Parent White Ibis getting ready to fly away.

Juvenile yelling: “Bring me back lots of goodies!”

White Ibis in flight.

At another nest a juvenile launched itself into the air.

Juvenile White Ibis launching out of nest.

White Ibis adult preparing to land.

“I’ll show you how to fly!”

“Watch me!”

White Ibis Feeding Time

Tags

Ocean City Welcome Center, postaday, white ibis

Today I went to the rookery at Ocean City Welcome Center. Dispersed among the trees were hundreds of egrets, ibises, night herons, and other shore birds. It was a photographer’s paradise as one could look in almost any direction and click away.

An adult White Ibis landed on top of a tree.

A young ibis immediately jumped next to it.

The young one begged for food.

And it begged …

The adult ibis allowed the juvenile to feed from its throat.

In no time all the food was gone.

“I am still starving!”

The adult Ibis wanted to fly away.

The juvenile tried to restrain it by draping a wing over the adult’s back.

“If you want more food, you have to let me go!”

Finally, the parent was able to fly away to look for more food. White Ibises eat insects and crustaceans that they find in the mud.

Lens-Artists Challenge #205 – The Eyes Have it

Tags

bluejay, Eastern Blue Bird, Eastern Bluebird, Female Ruby-throated Hummingbird, great egret, postaday, white ibis, yellow-crowned night heron

This post is my response to Tina’s challenge at Lens-Artists Challenge #205 – The Eyes Have it. I almost never photograph humans, so my entries will consist of pictures of birds that I encounter in a rookery, a wildlife refuge, or in our backyard.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron shielding her eggs from the hot sun. You can see part on an eye behind her right wing.

Juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Heron just waking up grumpy.

White Ibis after returning from a fishing trip.

Bluejay drinking from the birdbath in our backyard.

White Ibis preening.

Eastern Bluebird on top of Southern Magnolia tree.

Eastern Bluebird staring at photographer.

Great Egret landing on a branch.

Female Ruby-throated Hummingbird at feeder.

Female Ruby-throated Hummingbird at feeder.

Silent Sunday

Tags

postaday, red-winged blackbird, silent sunday

Red-winged Blackbird.

Rookery at Ocean City Welcome Center

Tags

great egret, Ocean City Welcome Center, postaday

Yesterday the rookery next to the New Jersey Ocean City Welcome Center was teeming with egrets, herons, ibises, and many other smaller birds. The Great Egrets breeding season was at its peak as you can see from the following images.

Great Egret pair and newly hatched chicks.

Great Egret with chick and a still unhatched egg.

Great Egret bringing an eel to the nest.

The parent egret will eat the eel then regurgitate it into the bottom of the nest. Then the young chicks will be able to eat it.

Great Egret with three chicks. Not all of the young chicks may survive due to competition among them, unless the parents can provide plenty of food.

Weekend Variety

Tags

bald eagle, Black-crowned Night Heron, canada goose, Forster's Tern, great egret, postaday, purple martin, snowy egret, white ibis, yellow-crowned night heron

I have been saving photos of birds over the past several weeks, waiting for an opportunity to post them. Here are most of them, in no particular order.

Black-crowned Night Heron in deep sleep.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron slowly waking up.

Bald Eagle shielding Eaglet from a strong wind. Ten days ago there were two Eaglets in the nest, but only one is visible now.

Canada Geese goose-stepping practice.

Great Egret landing.

White Ibis landing with twigs to build its nest.

Forster’s Tern looking for fish.

Purple Martin.

Snowy Egret.

Wordless Wednesday

Tags

clouds, gosling, Ocean City Welcome Center, postaday

Clouds.

Gosling: “Beautiful clouds!”

Silent Sunday

Tags

Fish Crow, postaday, red-winged blackbird

Red-winged Blackbird.

Red-winged Blackbird attacking Fish Crow.

Red-winged Blackbird attacking Fish Crow.

Red-winged Blackbird attacking Fish Crows.

Silent Sunday

Tags

postaday, silent sunday, white ibis

White Ibis.

Juvenile White Ibis.

White Ibis

Tags

Ocean City Welcome Center, photography, postaday, white ibis

The Ocean City Welcome Center rookery has many White Ibises this year. They make perfect subjects for birds in flight photography.

Diving White Ibis.

Diving White Ibis.

Three White Ibises.

White Ibis.

White Ibis.

Rookery at Ocean City Welcome Center Part 4

Tags

Black-crowned Night Heron, Ocean City Welcome Center, photography, postaday, yellow-crowned night heron

Night heron babies are not among the cutest by any stretch! They do grow up to be very handsome adults, and require a lot of feeding for that. That’s why their parents come back every year to the rookery which is surrounded in all directions by an ocean brimming with crustaceans and fish.

Yellow-crowned Night Herons: mother preening and two always hungry juveniles.

Two juveniles Yellow-crowned Night Herons standing next to their mother: “What is she doing?! She ought to be out looking for food for us!”

In a nearby nest, a Black-crowned Night Heron juvenile was going through the same hunger pains.

Juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron to mother: “Food, I want food! You did not give me enough!”

“You fed me but that was half an hour ago, and I am already starving!”

She suddenly lunged to put some food down his throat. Apologies for blurry photo, things happened fast all of a sudden.

“That’s not enough! I am still hungry!”

The mother flew away on a fishing expedition. Juvenile: “Make sure you bring back more than last time! I am STARVING!”

Rookery at Ocean City Welcome Center Part 3

Tags

Ocean City Welcome Center, photography, postaday, route 52 bridge, yellow-crowned night heron

The Ocean City Welcome Center was built as part of the Route 52 bridge that connects Ocean City, NJ to Somers Point, NJ. The 2.74 mi (4.41 km) bridge was built between 2006 and 2012, at a cost of $400 million.

Ocean City Welcome Center.

A few days ago, I walked down to the bottom of the bridge. From the Welcome Center sidewalk, one would look down on the rookery with many trees where the herons, egrets, ibises and other birds nested. Few birds, if any, were nesting at the bottom. Most photographers stay on the pedestrian walk above the rookery.

Underside of Route 52 bridge leading into Ocean City, NJ.

There were ducks and night herons swimming and drinking from small depressions where rain water had accumulated.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron drinking at bottom of bridge, with mallards in the foreground.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron finishing drink.

Route 52 bridge ending in Ocean City, NJ.

View from Welcome Center looking toward Somers Point, NJ. Rookery is on the left of the picture.

When the weather is nice, the bridge is a very active place. Thousands of cars cross it every day, as do pedestrians (walkers and joggers) and cyclists. There is also an area in the middle of the above photo which is reserved for people who want to fish from the ocean.

Rookery at Ocean City Welcome Center Part 2

Tags

glossy ibis, great egret, little blue heron, Ocean City Welcome Center, photography, postaday, rookery, white ibis

With bright sunshine, white clouds on blue sky, bearable temperatures, and a cool breeze from time to time, it was a perfect day for photography. There were already about a dozen photographers with their massive long lenses pointed at various points of the rookery.

Except for the sleepy night herons, the birds were very active, flying in and out of the trees every minute or so. I ended up taking many more pictures of birds in flight than I had planned.

Great Egret.

Great Egret.

Little Blue Heron, the first time I have seen one. In the background is the smokestack of a now-decommissioned power plant, the B.L. England Generating Station, also called Beesley’s Point Generating Station.

Glossy Ibis.

White Ibis.

White Ibis.

Juvenile Little Blue Heron.

White Ibis.

Rookery at Ocean City Welcome Center Part 1

Tags

Black-crowned Night Heron, Ocean City Welcome Center, photography, postaday, yellow-crowned night heron

Last year I missed going to the rookery right next to the Ocean City Welcome Center in Cape May County at the southern end of New Jersey. Three days ago, I went there in mid season. The rookery was filled with many birds, some I had never seen before.

The night herons have built nests, incubated their eggs and some were busy raising the young ones. There were probably some nests well hidden behind tree branches and leaves, with eggs that had not hatched yet.

Black-crowned Night heron with two chicks. The chicks have yellow eyes while the adult has red eyes.

The night herons, as their names imply, are most active after dusk when their eyes serve them well. During the day they appear somnolent, almost lethargic, which of course is good for photography as they can hold their poses for a long time.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron with its own tanning salon.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron with twig to be used for nest improvement.

These herons migrate long distances to their nesting grounds in New Jersey, and they do look impressive in flight.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron in flight.

Black-crowned Night Heron.

Night Herons

Tags

Black-crowned Night Heron, photography, postaday, yellow-crowned night heron

A few days ago, I went to the rookery next to the Welcome Center in Ocean City, NJ. It is quite late in the breeding season and most of the newborn herons, as well as their parents, have migrated. However, a handful were still around for pictures.

Black-crowned Night Heron.

Juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Heron.

Juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Heron.

Juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Heron.:”Wake me up when this Covid stuff is over …”

Black-Crowned Night Heron Lunch

Tags

Black-crowned Night Heron, Ocean City Welcome Center, photography, postaday

Two weeks ago, while the paparazzi were clustered around a nest with new chicks, I saw a Black-Crowned Night Heron fly to the marshes at low tide. These birds, as their name implies, normally feed in the evening, but this one was going to have lunch by pulling out worms from the sand.

Black-Crowned Night Heron landing on marshes.

Black-Crowned Night Heron catching sand worm.

Black-Crowned Night Heron eating sand worm.

The heron ate at least half a dozen worms.

Black-Crowned Night Heron posing one last time before flying back to the rookery.

Little Blue Heron

Tags

little blue heron, Ocean City Welcome Center, photography, postaday

At the rookery next to the Welcome Center at Ocean City, NJ, I saw a Little Blue Heron and its juvenile child. Their colors confused me at first. Juveniles are white, while adults are deep blue and purple. The rookery also had white egrets, both Great Egret and Snowy Egret, which added to my confusion.

Juvenile Little Blue Heron.

The one way I could be sure was when parent and juvenile were together, as when the parent brought food home for the hungry juvenile.

Little Blue Heron, parent and child.

No more food. The parent tried to get away.

Juvenile lodged a protest:”You come back here. I’m not done eating yet!”

Parent flying away to get more food.

“I hope that won’t take too long. I’m starving!”

Rookery at Ocean City 4

Tags

bird paparazzi, Ocean City Welcome Center, photography, postaday, yellow-crowned night heron

In the first post for this series 11 days ago, I posted pictures of a Yellow-crowned Night Heron tending to her five eggs. Yesterday, I went back there and saw that the eggs have become young chicks covered with down, barely able to stand up. There were about twenty photographers gathered on the sidewalk above the nest, all vying to take pictures of the herons.

As I got there, the male heron had just landed with a twig in his beak. The female will take it and add it to the nest.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron arriving with twig.

Female taking twig from male.

Female adding twig to nest.

There were five eggs, but I only see three chicks. I wonder what happened.

Female and chicks.

Mother heron proceeded to feed the chicks.

Female feeding chicks.

Afterwards, she spread out her wings to shield her children from the hot sun. She kept her eyes closed, perhaps taking a well-deserved nap.

Female shielding chicks from sun.

Following are pictures of the Ocean City Welcome Center and the bird paparazzi.

Ocean City Welcome Center.

Bird paparazzi.

Rookery at Ocean City 3

Tags

Black-crowned Night Heron, Ocean City Welcome Center, photography, postaday, red-winged blackbird, rookery

Black-crowned Night Herons are a major presence at  the rookery next to the Welcome Center at Ocean City, NJ. These birds hunt for their food starting at dusk, and their eyes are one of their most noticeable features.

Black-crowned Night Heron.

Immature Black-crowned Night Heron.

Despite their size these Herons are easily intimidated by the Red-winged Blackbird, a fierce defender of its territory. I saw a Blackbird chase a Heron into a tree.

Red-winged Blackbird and Black-crowned Night Heron.

Pursued by the Blackbird, the Heron tried to hide among the branches. Unfortunately, too many leaves shielded the small Blackbird from the camera.

Black-crowned Night Heron very wary of Red-winged Blackbird.

Black-crowned Night Heron.

Rookery at Ocean City 2

Tags

glossy ibis, little blue heron, ocean city, photography, postaday, yellow-crowned night heron

Yesterday, in this series first post, I wrote that it was late in the season.This was because I saw many juvenile birds at the rookery, and only one nest with unhatched eggs.

Juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Herons.

There were some juvenile Glossy Ibises, very hungry ones that did not give their parents any respite as they kept demanding for more food. They caused a lot of commotion from one end of the rookery to the other, juveniles chasing their parents to get food from their bills!

Juvenile Glossy Ibis.

Glossy Ibises, adult and juvenile.

I also saw the following juvenile, which I am guessing is a Little Blue Heron. If so, it would be a first sighting for me. If you know it is a different bird, please tell me.

Juvenile Little Blue Heron.

Rookery at Ocean City

Tags

ocean city, photography, postaday, rookery, yellow-crowned night heron

Ocean City, NJ is a resort town in South Jersey on an island which can be reached via a causeway. Driving on the causeway, before arriving in Ocean City, there is a turn-off for a Welcome Center. From a sidewalk right next to the center, every Spring and Summer it is quite easy to take pictures of Herons, Ibises, Egrets, and many other birds that fly in from the South to breed and raise their chicks. The sidewalk is almost as tall as the rookery trees, so one can look down on their nests and watch activities from breeding to incubating and finally fledging just before the birds migrate South. The birds seemed unperturbed by all the human lookers and photographers.

I missed going there last year, and this year I only managed to get to the rookery this past weekend. It is late in the season, but I still saw a Yellow-crowned Night Heron nest with unhatched eggs. The tired-looking mother had just stood up to scratch herself.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron.

After some more preening, she tidied up the nest.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron.

Then she sat down and resumed incubating. The eggs should be hatching in a few more days.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron.

Dive-Bombing

Tags

Black-crowned Night Heron, photography, postaday, red-winged blackbird

Going through my files from this past June, I found the following series showing a Red-winged Blackbird dive-bombing a Black-crowned Night Heron that had strayed too close to its nest. This all happened in less than a minute near the Ocean City Welcome Center in New Jersey.

Red-winged Blackbird dive-bombing Black-crowned Night Heron.

Red-winged Blackbird lifting up for another dive!

Red-winged Blackbird chasing Black-crowned Night Heron.

Black-crowned Night Heron landing. Note gap on its back.

Black-crowned Night Heron: “OMG, what was that?!”

Long Trip Coming

Tags

atsion, Black-crowned Night Heron, cassidy arch, curlew, garrapata, marked godwit, photography, postaday, potash

Busy preparing for an upcoming long trip, I have not had a chance to go out and take any photo. The following images were taken many months ago, but have not yet been published on these pages. There is no rhyme or reason to them, just interesting shots of landscape and wildlife that I have seen.

Long-billed Curlew on Moss Landing beach in California.

Marbled Godwit at Moss Landing, CA.

Eagle taking off at Garrapata State Park, CA.

Controlled burn at Atsion, NJ.

Cassidy Arch at Capitol Reef National Park.

Black-crowned Night Heron at Ocean City, NJ.

Unidentified flower at Sayen Gardens, NJ.

Potash mine ponds at Dead Horse Point State Park, UT.

Osprey (Not Peregrine Falcon)

Tags

Ocean City Welcome Center, osprey, photography, postaday

The pictures below are those of an Osprey, not a Peregrine Falcon as I originally had thought. Thanks to Donna, I now realize my mistake and made the necessary corrections.

Osprey soaring over Ocean City Welcome Center.

Osprey flying over Ocean City Welcome Center.

Osprey on the hunt.

Osprey diving toward prey.

Rookery Scenes

Tags

Black-crowned Night Heron, Ocean City Welcome Center, photography, postaday, rookery, yellow-crowned night heron

Yesterday the rookery next to Ocean City Welcome Center was very busy, with photographers and birds. The former brought their long lenses firmly anchored to bulky tripods, or to study arms. The latter, especially the younger ones, were up to their natural feistiness.

Black-crowned Night Heron.

I tried to shoot a few bird-in-flight pictures, but ended up discarding most of them.  Below is one of the better images.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron in flight.

Two juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Heron did not let up on their play acting, and I saw that other young ones in nearby nests were behaving likewise. Perhaps it’s a part of their growing up, preparing themselves for an independent life in a few more weeks,

Young Yellow-crowned Night Herons. I don’t know why the one on the right was showing his throat.

The one on the left promptly responded.

Young Yellow-crowned Night Heron on left: “Keep it closed, capice?”

Heron Sibling Rivalry

Tags

Ocean City Welcome Center, photography, postaday, sibling rivalry, yellow-crowned night heron

Yesterday at the rookery next to Ocean City Welcome Center I took many pictures of heron nests and their occupants, as well as of other birds flying and nesting in the area. However, I think you may enjoy looking at the ones below, which offer a unique perspective on sibling rivalry.

A pair of young Yellow-crowned Night Heron, they have grown up quite a bit since last week, were confronting each other, and the facial expressions of one of them are priceless.

Young Yellow-crowned Night Heron to opponent: “You want to fight? Come on!”

Young Yellow-crowned Night Heron to opponent: “Oh no! He is really going to get me!”

Young Yellow-crowned Night Heron: “Please, I didn’t mean it!”

Young Yellow-crowned Night Heron: “Mommy! Help! He is going to kill me!”

Young Yellow-crowned Night Heron: “Aaaargh!”

The above reminds me of another photo I took last year, at around this same time.

Young Red Foxes, May 2015.

Rookery Flights

Tags

Black-crowned Night Heron, grackle, photography, postaday, yellow-crowned night heron

This past Sunday, as I stood by the side of the Ocean City Welcome Center to photograph Night Heron nests, there were many herons flying in and out of the rookery every few minutes. I tried to swing my camera around and aimed at them, but they were so fast that I never knew whether I managed to capture any of them. Actually, I did miss most of them, but the following somehow came out rather well.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron.

Black-crowned Night Heron.

Same Black-crowned Night Heron, a fraction of a second later.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron carrying a stick back to nest.

This Grackle had just landed in a tree. It had some kind of berries in its beak.

Night Herons Nest Activities

Tags

Black-crowned Night Heron, Ocean City Welcome Center, photography, postaday, yellow-crowned night heron

The Night Heron hatchlings from last week are now wide awake, clamoring for attention and food. You can see them in the following photos and the two short videos at the end of this post.

Newborn Yellow-crowned Night Herons.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron mother: “Open wide!”

One Yellow-crowned Night Heron nest still had a few more eggs to hatch.

I finally located a Black-crowned Night Heron nest.

Black-crowned Night Heron and hatchlings. The video is right below.

The following video shows activities at a Yellow-crowned Night Heron nest.

 

Night Herons

Tags

Black-crowned Night Heron, Ocean City Welcome Center, photography, postaday, yellow-crowned night heron

Yesterday was the first time I used my camera to shoot a short video of a Yellow-crowned Night Heron tending to its babies in their nest. It is a little noisy, but here it is anyway so that you can see the interaction between mother and babies.

Going through my files from yesterday, I found one of an immature heron, probably a Black-crowned Night Heron.

Immature Black-crowned Night Heron.

And here’s one of an adult heron carrying a twig.

Black-crowned Night Heron.

Hatchlings

Tags

Black-crowned Night Heron, glossy ibis, great egret, hatchling, Ocean City Welcome Center, photography, postaday, yellow-crowned night heron

As predicted, the eggs in the Night Heron nests have begun to hatch. I went to the Ocean City Welcome Center today to look at them, and saw little balls of fur moving while the parents were busy preening or redecorating their nests.

Yellow-crowned Night Herons with new hatchlings in nest.

Yellow-crowned Night Herons planning redecoration.

At another nest, the male heron brought a twig back.

Female heron: “What took you so long?” Note that one egg still had not hatched.

Male heron passing twig to female.

While he flew away to look for other twigs, she tidied up their nest.

At yet another nest, no eggs had hatched.

All the eggs were still whole.

There were many other birds around the herons. I only managed to get shots of Ibises and Great Egret.

Great Egret throwing up food.

Several Glossy Ibises were flying around. Maybe they also had nests in the rookery.

Black-crowned Night Heron. They also had nests but those were well hidden in the rookery trees.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron on the hunt.

Eggs

Tags

Black-crowned Night Heron, Ocean City Welcome Center, photography, postaday, yellow-crowned night heron

Yesterday I went back to Ocean City Welcome Center to check on the Night Herons, both Yellow-Crowned and Black-Crowned kinds. They now have eggs, and this was the first time I was able to photograph bird eggs in their nests.

Yellow-Crowned Night Heron eggs. The parents left them untended for about a minute.

Yellow-Crowned Night Heron re-arranging nest.

Yellow-Crowned Night Heron breaking another branch to add to nest.

Black-Crowned Night Heron with eggs.

Black-Crowned Night Heron with eggs.

In case your are wondering, here’s a picture of Ocean City Welcome Center.

Ocean City Welcome Center.

And here’s a shot of the place from where I’ve been photographing the Night Herons.

Observation railing at Ocean City Welcome Center. Two photographers are in the picture, one at the railing, and another walking in the shadows on a path below.

Finally, a photo of a Night Heron incubating.

Yellow-Crowned Night Heron incubating.

Incubation lasts up to 25 days, so next week, there may be new hatchlings.

Breaking Branch

Tags

Ocean City Welcome Center, photography, postaday, yellow-crowned night heron

Last Sunday, as I watched the Night Herons at the Ocean City Welcome Center, I kept hearing loud noises as if someone was breaking branches. It turned out that it was the herons themselves. As you can see from the photo below, these herons have very sturdy, thick bills.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron.

In fact, they are known as crab eaters, eating whole crabs by crushing them with their bills before swallowing them. With larger crabs, they grab them with their bill and then shake them violently to break them up into smaller pieces. Their bills are like those steel crab crackers that they have at restaurants that serve crabs.

A the start of breeding season, the herons have to build nests where the females will lay their eggs. They go around their neighborhood and use their bills to break dead branches and bring the pieces back to their nests.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron: “We need more branches.”

Heron seized branch with bill.

Heron jumping up and down to break branch.

Got one!

Back to nest with broken branch.

Depositing branch at nest.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron

Tags

Black-crowned Night Heron, Ocean City Welcome Center, photography, postaday, rookery, yellow-crowned night heron

The Welcome Center in Ocean City, NJ is right next to a rookery with many kinds of birds, including Yellow-crowned Night Herons. These herons are active during daylight hours, in contrast to the Black-crowned Night Heron that are nocturnal. The herons arrived a little over two weeks ago, but within a week they had been busy courting, choosing their partners, and building nests. I took the following photos last Sunday.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron standing next to a nest, thinking about what else could be added to it.

As a female Yellow-crowned Night Heron works on her nest, a male approaches.

“Move over, I want to help!”

He tried to impress her with a display of feathers.

At another nest, a male Yellow-crowned Night Heron brought a branch to add to the nest.

Meanwhile the Black-crowned Night Herons were starting to wake up.

Black-crowned Night Heron. “Those yellow-crowned cousins sure make a lot of noise!”

Black-crowned Night Heron:”Yeah, what’s all the fuss about?”

Song Sparrow

Tags

Ocean City Welcome Center, photography, postaday, song sparrow

This morning, I saw a Song Sparrow perched on the top branch of a bush near the Ocean City Welcome Center.

“You want me to sing?”

“Oh what a beautiful morning,
Oh what a beautiful day,
I’ve got a wonderful feeling,
Everything’s going my way.”

“So how do you like it?”