Late nester

I guess birds are a lot like people -- everyone finds something that they are really into. This Black-Crowned Night Heron is going back to make another late summer nest. He (she?) kept flying off to some trees behind me and coming back about every five minutes with big branches like this one. I guess one of the advantage of building a nest (again) in late summer is there are more branches laying on the ground.

I have it on my to do list to head back to Audubon Parks' Oschner Island rookery soon to see what the young chicks look like. There should be a lot of food around to feed them.

Picky eating

A juvenile Black-Crowned Night Heron enjoys his meal at the banks edge in the lagoon in Audubon Park, New Orleans. He was joined on the bank by a mixed group of ducks and geese. Even as I approached, none of the group made any venture out into the water. As I moved along the bank, they would move the opposite way, but no water ventures. I suspect that they had spotted the lagoon's alligator and were not going to venture out. They were contented with the shadowy bank in the heat of the day.

This heron stood at the edge waiting for the occasional bug to float, or an underwater treat to swim up and he would pick them up. It was a slow meal, but it was little effort, too. The young guy is about a 16 inches maybe from tip of beak to tale (you don't really get a sense of size in the photo).

-- steve buser

Gliding lessons

How to glide? Take a lesson from this Black-crowned Night Heron -- raise your wings, trim tips to keep the wind from sailing off the end. Then slowly bring them down to level. Keep your eye on the limb your shooting for. You are going to have to turn on the air brakes about 30 feet away and bring you legs down and out front.

He's a regular Audubon Park resident in this urban paradise in Uptown New Orleans. The lagoon attracts hundreds of birds of various species.

-- steve buser