Night-Herons

As you follow the boardwalk through Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, you will pass several marshy areas. These are great places to see several different species of wader. Often the birds do not react to the human traffic on the boardwalk, and are sometimes super close. In my case, it was a great place to see and compare the two species of Night-Heron that occur in North America. Several of each species were in the same area, giving the opportunity for side-by-side comparisons. I snapped these two photos from the boardwalk while my targets ignored my presence. The first is a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron perched in a tree. The second is a Black-crowned Night-Heron standing in water.

Black-crowned Night-Heron

Only a few people were annoyed with me while I stopped traffic on the Chincoteague Wildlife Loop to take this picture from my car. This is a Black-crowned Night-Heron. He has cool eyes.