Luminous Landscape Forum
Equipment & Techniques => Landscape & Nature Photography => Topic started by: Chris Calohan on August 28, 2014, 08:00:54 pm
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Evidently caught him right after bathing as he was trying to dry his wings. Great light for this guy.
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That's a terrific photo - shows the heron actually doing something rather than the usual static bird shots.
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That's a terrific photo - shows the heron actually doing something rather than the usual static bird shots.
Yes, and lots of DOF on the bird and a good background. Nice.
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Fantastic, I love the heron's attitude and the shape of the dead branch. Framing is top notch.
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Simply wonderful.
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+1. Drying wings or twerking? :)
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Having never seen a Little Green in this pose, I assumed this was a wing drying thing much like you see with Cormorants and Anhingas. the motion and positioning was quite similar. I am pretty sure the nesting season is over for them...but I haven't received a memo to this effect either :D
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Another reminder about heron names . . .
There is no such bird as a "Little Green Heron." The bird might be small, but both the North American and international ornithology committees have long called Butorides virescens and its subspecies "Green Heron."
It has become a convention among ornithologists to capitalize bird common names, so "Green Heron" is preferred over "green heron." This helps avoid confusion. For example, "Did you see a yellow warbler (many warblers are yellow in color) or a Yellow Warbler (specifically Setophaga petechia)?
So while you followed the capitalization convention correctly, you applied it to a bird name that doesn't exist. :)
But it would be accurate to say "I photographed a little Green Heron."
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Very nice, I like photos showing behavior
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Mark,
Maybe you need to loosen the wraps a little.
Perhaps the name Chris is using is colloquial?
He is after all from Florida. ;D
Rich
P.S. It is a fine shot of a lovely bird.
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Maybe you need to loosen the wraps a little.
Maybe so. But it was intended as a friendly reminder for those of use who enjoy photographing birds. Knowing the common names helps communicating with each other and with bird experts or clients who might be confused by non-standard usage.
Perhaps the name Chris is using is colloquial?
He is after all from Florida. ;D
I don't think so. I'm from Florida too ;D
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Well, where I am in Florida, everyone calls it a Little Green...but in deference, I did look it up and the only Florida bird given the nomenclature "Little" is the Little Blue Heron, so he is correct and I am WRONG with a G... ;D I will endeavor to correct my fellow birders up here to the corrected name. Thanks for the head's up.
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As an aside, I've never really liked the official name for this bird anyway since the coloring rarely looks green to me. I would have called it the "Dark Blue-Green Heron" or "Dark Teal Heron." Or maybe "Clever Heron" since they are one of the few birds known to use tools.
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I've seen them taunt a frog with a stick but they were both so far up into a buttonbush, I couldn't get the shot when the frog went for the trick.
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Love the composition, light, and background.
Colors all blend wonderfully together ... it almost looks like a watercolor.
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Wonderful shot, Chris.
And although I've never been to Florida, I have to admit that everybody I know who looks at birds calls these "Little Green Herons" even here in Massachusetts. Of course, in conversations it's hard to tell whether the "L" in "Little" is capitalized. ;)
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A number of years ago the correct common name was Little Green Heron. The 'Little' was dropped some time ago but some treeware field guides with the previous name haven't self-edited yet. Nice photo, Chris.
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A number of years ago the correct common name was Little Green Heron. The 'Little' was dropped some time ago but some treeware field guides with the previous name haven't self-edited yet. Nice photo, Chris.
Must have been quite some time ago because my 1970s-era Peterson guide says "Green Heron." The most recent North American reference to "Little Green Heron" I can find (in a very quick Google search) is a 1904 Scientific American article.
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+1. Drying wings or twerking? :)
LAWL - The twerking green heron shot...
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I still have the anachronistic habit of distinguishing between Mallards and Black Ducks.