Visits to three locations along the New Jersey Shore resulted in some great looks at some beautiful birds yesterday. A female Black-Crowned Night-Heron tends to her chicks at a rookery in Ocean City.
Male and female Night-Herons look the same but their behavior provides clues as to who is who in the pair. You may be tempted to think that this is the male as he appears to be watching the female do all the work. In truth, they each help build the nest and then both protect and feed the chicks.
Night-Herons forage for food when the sun goes down. This is a juvenile Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron.
An Osprey flies to its nest with a fresh catch at the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge.
An American Oystercatcher at the Gateway National Recreation Area at Sandy Hook.
The highlight of the day was the last bird I photographed. It’s my first-ever Piping Plover. These tiny birds, on the endangered species list due to loss of habitat, do a great job of blending into the scenery. They are difficult to spot but fun to watch.
“The male Mandarin duck, native to East Asia, should not be in the middle of Manhattan. And yet, against all odds, he is here. And he is dazzling,” writes Julia Jacobs of the New York Times. This bird, photographed in Central Park today, is a real show-stealer. No one seems quite sure how it arrived but it seems happy to pose for all of us awe-struck onlookers.
A Cedar Waxwing eats ripe berries from a Crabapple tree in the park today.
Unlike the Mandarin, Wood ducks are native to the United States. They are one of the most stunningly pretty of all waterfowl. Males are iridescent chestnut and green, with ornate patterns on nearly every feather. This one was also at Central Park today – not far from that number one attention-getter.
Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence – Max Ehrmann