Sometimes everything lines up just right

Yesterday I spent almost the whole day birding. I checked out the southern Rhode Island shorebird hotspots.  I only got one new bird for the day. It was a good one, a whimbrel at Quonny Pond. After I left Quonny I went to Charlestown to spend time birding the flats at Ninigret Pond. I ran into my friend Sue Palmer. After checking out every bird a dozen times and not finding anything new we paddled around the pond. Man, I'm glad we did.  We had some outstanding photo opportunities of some really neat birds.

Sue had already paddled everywhere so she had a good idea where the birds are. We found Ospreys, a Common Loon, Spotted Sandpipers. and Green Herons Our highlight were a  juvenile Black Crowned Night Heron and a couple juvenile Yellow Crowned Night Herons. The Yellow Crowned is fairly rare around here. When one is reported, people usually chase it. 

I learned that birds are far less skittish when you view them from a kayak than from land. The Night Herons and Green Heron were happy to keep hunting as we drifted by them within feet of the shoreline. We couldn't have gotten any where as close on foot. The nose of my kayak was within fifteen feet of the shoreline and the birds were still successfully hunting small fish. 

The pictures I got today of the Green and Night Herons are by far the best I have ever gotten of those three species. The birds let us get close, the weather was perfect, and we had great light. We would drift towards and by the birds with the sun at our backs. As a park ranger told me once, "Today was a Red Letter day!!!"

*Note*

A couple of the pics below are only slightly cropped. One I darkened slightly because of overexposure. For the most part, these are all originals. I got dozens of "keeper" photos of birds I didn't have any thing more than proof photos. Putting a few of them on here insures if my house ever burns down I will have a few immortalized on the internet. 

                                    Common Loon                               

Osprey in the water

The next few are two different juvenile Yellow Crowned Night Herons.

You can tell them apart easily. The one directly below has scruff

on its head, the other one's head is smooth.

Spotted Sandpiper below

Next up, a few shots of the Green Heron

Juvenile Black Crowned Night Heron

At first glance the young night herons look similar but they are east to tell apart.

This one, Black Crowned, has larger spots, a longer thicker bill,

and a much thicker muscular neck