It’s not every day that a White-necked Heron comes so close that I have to back away to focus on it. In fact I usually have to photograph them from a fair distance and crop the image. But not this week!
The photograph above shows a more typical shot I might get of a White-necked Heron, the rest are of the beauty that came so close. After the horrors of last week’s bushfire post I wanted to visit somewhere with lots of water so I headed to the Blue Lotus Water Gardens to enjoy the tranquility with a friend who also needed a get-away day.
This shot is one of the few where I managed to get the entire bird in the frame. There are three things about this shot that I like: the vestige of plum-coloured nuptial plumes on its back, the way it has its head and neck feathers ruffled, and the inclusion of some of its environment. In both of the first two shots the herons are foraging beside water. They eat a range of items including fish, insects, amphibians and crustaceans.
This portrait is so striking, a word that is very apt for the way they forage as they stare intently before swaying their necks in a mesmerising way and jabbing their long bill to snatch up their prey. I’ve always especially liked the spots on the front of their necks. They are up to 1m tall, weighing about 900g, and are incredibly graceful birds to watch. Their feathers are usually sleek as they are in this shot, rather than fluffed as they are in the following photographs.
It’s hard not to smile when I look at this photograph with its head and neck feathers ruffled from the top of its head to the bottom of its long neck.
It caught several large beetles as I watched and then this little fish. At least I think it’s a fish. Perhaps a native galaxia. Please let me know if you can ID it.
Its expression in this shot makes me feel as though it thinks I might want to steal its little fish but it wasn’t me moving closer and closer, so close that this is all I could get in each frame.
The White-necked Heron had just swallowed the fish in this photograph. Just look at that slightly open bill and those magnificent feathers… a truly magnificent species. It was a wonderful experience, and privilege, to spend so much time so close to this beautiful bird.
Happy birding, Kim
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How wonderful! What an anazingly beautiful bird. Thank you for your inspiring photographs and your work.
Many thanks for your kind comment Deb, it was such a beautiful experience to spend time with this heron.
What an absolute beauty – and a perfect respite from the woes of the world. Thank you so very much.
Lovely to see you back EC! I really needed to experience something beautiful after the bushfire evacuations and this heron was just perfect.
Hi Kim,
What gorgeous photos of such an exquisite bird! I love these birds and sometimes see them in the paddocks near watering holes and there’s usually no room to pull off the highway, so all I can do is admire from a distance as we’re driving past.
You were able to get some beautiful photos so that makes up for it.
Thankyou.
Marg x
I can totally relate to seeing them on paddocks in places where I can’t pull up! Even when I spot one and can photograph it I’ve never had an opportunity like this before. It was quite funny to hear a woman passing by telling her friend that the two birds in the next pond were the heron’s babies – well, no, unless they’d adopted a pair of Eurasian Coots. I hope you get a close-up experience with them soon xo