April 3, 2011 - Wood Storks and Herons

The only member of the stork family that breeds in the United States is the Wood Stork. They are found in the far southeastern states, mainly in Florida. They are large birds (3-4 feet tall) with bare heads and large, heavy bills.

StorkWoodflightLakeHenriettaTallahassee20110226

This photo of a landing Wood Stork gives a nice look at the white and black pattern on the upper wings. This picture and the previous one were taken at Lake Henrietta near Tallahassee, Florida.

StorkWoodflightLakeHenriettaTallahassee20110226

Here’s a photo of an adult (in front) and a juvenile Wood Stork. The juvenile looks very much like the adult but there are a couple of differences that can be seen. The head of the adult is completely featherless but the juvenile still has feathers on the back of the head. The bill of the juvenile is lighter in color and the feathers are not as white as those of the adult. This photo and all the others below were taken at Ding Darling NWR on Sanibel Island near Fort Meyers, Florida.

StorkWoodDingDarlingNWRSanibelIsland20110124

This is an adult Little Blue Heron. The juvenile of this species is completely white. During its second year it gradually molts into the darker plumage, resulting in a mixture of white and blue feathers. I have a photo showing one of these “calico” colored herons. Click on this link to see it. http://www.earlorfphotos.com/Birds/Birds-3/5689244_zUJm8#350681123_FURzk

HeronLittleBlueDingDarlingNWRSanibelIsland20110123

This adult Black-crowned Night-heron is roosting in a mangrove pool at Ding Darling NWR. They do most of their feeding at night and they rest during the day. In winter they are found along the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf Coasts of the United States. However, during breeding season, they disburse to most of the non-mountainous areas of the country.

NightHeronBlackcrownedDingDarlingNWRSanibelIsland20110127

Adult Black-crowned and Yellow-crowned Night-herons are pretty easy to tell apart. But the juveniles are more difficult. On the left is a juvenile Black-crowned Night-heron and on the right is a juvenile Yellow-crowned Heron. The bill is a big help in identifying these birds. The juvenile Black-crowned has a bicolored bill, as does the adult in the photo above. The juvenile Yellow-crowned has an all-black bill. Another feature to look for is the larger white spots on the juvenile Black-crowned.

NightHeronjuvenilesDingDarlingNWRSanibelIsland20110127

This photo of a Green Heron is not a great one but I am including it to show the remarkable capability of modern telephoto lenses. Non-photographers, please forgive the technical jargon this one time. I have a 200-400 mm lens with a feature called Image Stabilization. When you press the shutter button this feature attempts to cancel out any movement of the lens. It’s almost like it has a tiny gyroscope helping to stabilize the camera. This is a great help in getting sharp images when you are in a low light situation. This bird was at the back end of a mangrove pool at Ding Darling. It was early in the morning and the bird was in the shadows. My camera, with this lens on it, weighs 10.5 pounds and I was hand-holding it (no tripod). I set the shutter speed at 1/15th of a second and still got a pretty sharp image.

HeronGreenDingDarlingNWRSanibelIsland20110127