
I got an urgent email message that a juvenile Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron had been spotted in a private pond nearby on Friday morning, which apparently was a pretty big deal, not having been seen in North Iowa since 2006. I was at work, so it was going to have to wait until later. I drove out in the evening and actually spotted the bird but it flew before I got a photo. The landowner was out in the yard and I stopped to introduce myself and got permission to come back and take pictures. I returned a little later but the sun was already behind the trees and the pond was in the shadows. I sat and watched from the car for a short while and spotted a bird across the pond - a bit too far away for a decent photo with my lens. As luck would have it the heron flew from across the pond and landed on the edge of the pond very close to the car. I couldn't see it from the car so I carefully crept through the weeds and slid behind a tree where I could peek around the side to get a better view. The light was fading but I was able to take several photos as the bird walked along the shore occasionally snatching something out of the mud with its beak. The juvenile Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron looks very similar to the juvenile Black-Crowned Night-Heron, but according to my bird book the wing feathers ('wing coverts') have pale edges - which can be clearly seen in this photo. As this one flew away I spotted another on the other side of the pond with a slightly darker beak and got a few photos of that one also. Now, if I can only get a photo of an adult. I like it when I can get a tip about getting a good bird photo and it works in to my schedule to take some pictures.