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Birding in Taiwan: The Black-Crowned Night Heron

By Carrie on June 27, 2009

Photo by Carrie Marshall

Photo by Carrie Marshall

These crimson-eyed beauties are a common sight in low-lying areas of Taiwan. I’ve seen Black-Crowned Night Herons all over the city, but never one this close. Apparently these gorgeous herons (scientific name Nycticorax nycticorax) are not only sneaky, but incredibly patient. This one waited on a rock for lunch to swim by for almost 20 minutes. Lunch never arrived so it took off in search of a better vantage point. It finally settled down a short distance away on the water marker in the middle of the fish pond.

Black-crowned Night Heron

Black-Crowned Night Heron and Fish

Posted in , , | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Responses

Originally from Ottawa, Canada, Carrie has kept a home base with her husband in Asia since 2003. She works as a full-time freelance writer, editor, and photographer in Taiwan. Visit www.carriekellenberger.com for more information.

9 responses to “Birding in Taiwan: The Black-Crowned Night Heron”

  1. Darren M
    Darren M
    June 27, 2009 at 4:48 pm | | Reply

    I love the BCNH too. They seem such a stocky, strong bird. Strangely, I was really close to one last weekend, haven’t posted the photos anywhere. You are right, their patience is amazing. I saw quite some time ago a 20 second exposure of one poised ready to strike. It was so cool, as the body and the head were still really sharp, the outside feathers were totally blurred and the water was very silky. The tripod of the bird world.

  2. Anil
    Anil
    June 27, 2009 at 10:50 pm | | Reply

    I can’t tell who looks more intimidating in that last photo, the fish or the bird.

  3. Lilliy
    Lilliy
    June 28, 2009 at 6:11 am | | Reply

    Yes I agree with Anil.. it almost looks like the fish is going to jump the bird.. great photos.. you can almost see it in the eyes of the bird.. sitting.. waiting..

  4. kim
    kim
    July 3, 2009 at 1:50 pm | | Reply

    Gorgeous bird, gorgeous pictures! I love that shade of blue.

    1. Carrie
      Carrie
      July 10, 2009 at 3:22 pm | | Reply

      Thanks Kim. Although I admit, it scared me to death when it landed right beside me. :-)

  5. jen Laceda
    jen Laceda
    July 7, 2009 at 1:52 am | | Reply

    Aren’t birds hard to capture (in a photo, i mean)? But you’ve captured the black-crowned heron well!

    1. Carrie
      Carrie
      July 11, 2009 at 3:26 pm | | Reply

      Hi Jen,
      Yeah, they can be hard to capture. This one was sitting pretty close to me. That’s why it turned out so well. Some of the bird photographers on Flickr blow me away. They seem to have a lot more patience than I do.

  6. krzysztof
    krzysztof
    July 15, 2009 at 2:50 pm | | Reply

    That’s impressive :) I’m interested in the distance between you and this bird. Did you have to come very closely? And one more thing – I saw on myseveralworlds.com the discussion about your new lens. I don’t remember where it was. Maybe you remember or can you remind me what kind of lens do you use currently?

    1. Carrie
      Carrie
      July 28, 2009 at 10:03 am | | Reply

      Hi K,
      It was less than 2 feet away. I was sitting on a park bench and it landed right beside me.

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