There's a small pond in a sport's complex off 5 Forks Trickum Rd in Gwinnett County. It was a quiet pond in a hot, late spring afternoon and there was not much going on around here other than few Mallards swimming back and forth and some joggers walking alone paved trail. As I carefully scanned the edge of pond, there were a lot of activities all hidden under a huge willow tree. Pine warblers were singing and I spotted a beautiful Grey Catbird foraging on the ground. As the first heron chick appeared, I got a bit of nervous and thought this chick might fly away if he noticed me. Soon I found out my worry was not necessary because he was just a small, flightless chick. OMG! I laughed at myself so hard and then decided to go back to my car and get my lunch and picnic table out. No, no, I am kidding. Instead, I now could really relax and take my time to get some cool photos!
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Adult Green Heron in this photo. Parents are near by watching the chicks ..Click Image to enlarge |
After a while, his other brothers and sisters started coming out one by one, hopping around the nesting tree. I have never seen Green Heron walking, they normally stand motionless and stare at water for prey. It was very comical to see these chicks wobbling so much and few times, they almost fell from trees. Suddenly, they started calling and flapping their wings so hard and that reminded me my first time seeing Pileated Woodpecker chicks . I guessed their parents might be around and guess what? I was right!
Suddenly, out of the blue, one chick flew in and touched down right next to the parent ....then I had no clue to what happened in the next 10 seconds except hearing the sound of my camera firing at the speed of 8 frames per second. When all the actions finished, both birds flew off, I played back my camera and,wow, I saw something amazing!
Acknowledgement:
Thanks to my friends Richard and Tali Stone for their kindness and this amazing find so I would be able to share these beautiful herons with everyone! Richard, you are awesome and keep an eye on your owls when they return this winter!
Beautiful birds and story Linda! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThanks Trevor :) My new trip photo is coming...have to work Sunday so see you soon!
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