{"id":101968,"date":"2022-04-29T05:31:22","date_gmt":"2022-04-29T11:31:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=101968"},"modified":"2023-09-28T05:18:16","modified_gmt":"2023-09-28T11:18:16","slug":"adult-black-crowned-night-heron-in-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/04\/29\/adult-black-crowned-night-heron-in-flight\/","title":{"rendered":"Adult Black-crowned Night Heron In Flight"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Black-crownedBlack-crowned Night Heron flying in front of the Promontory Mountains \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Almost a year ago I had this adult Black-crowned Night Heron in my viewfinder as it flew in front of the Promontory Mountains<\/span><\/a> at Bear River MBR<\/span><\/a>. The light was wonderful and it illuminated the heron well against the darker mountain peaks.<\/p>\n

The Promontory Mountains are west of the marshes of the refuge and the peaks of the range can be striking in early morning light.<\/p>\n

Black-crowned Night Herons are year round residents in the marshes and wetlands of northern Utah. I think these night herons look particularly striking during the spring when they are in breeding plumage with their long occipital plumes.<\/p>\n

\"SpringSpring Black-crowned Night Heron adult in flight \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/3200, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This spring I haven’t had many opportunities to photograph Black-crowned Night Herons. That has more to do with gloomy weather and fewer opportunities in the field than anything else.<\/p>\n

There are years that I have seen very few Black-crowned Night Herons on the refuge and other years where I have seen plenty of them. I suspect that has to do with water levels and the abundance of prey close to the auto tour route more than anything else.<\/p>\n

I am looking forward to finding and photographing this species and other birds at the refuge as soon as I can get back up there. Hopefully the weather will get better soon.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Black-crowned Night Heron photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Almost a year ago I had this adult Black-crowned Night Heron in my viewfinder as it flew in front of the Promontory Mountains at Bear River MBR.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":101961,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[124,27,321,1148,26],"tags":[4004,1533,4052,4122,627,626,4094,4069,3956,3957,4292,4528,4018,165,313,4095],"class_list":["post-101968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-black-crowned-night-herons","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-black-crowned-night-heron","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-heron","tag-herons","tag-marsh","tag-mountains","tag-night-heron","tag-night-herons","tag-nycticorax-nycticorax","tag-promontory-mountains","tag-sky","tag-spring","tag-wading-birds","tag-wetlands"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/black-crowned-night-heron-adult-flight-mia-mcpherson-2033.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-qwE","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":48420,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/09\/11\/wading-birds-at-bear-river-mbr-yesterday\/","url_meta":{"origin":101968,"position":0},"title":"Wading Birds At Bear River MBR Yesterday","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 11, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I had fun photographing the juvenile Great Blue Heron, juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron and the adult Snowy Egret yesterday at Bear River MBR. I especially loved the clearer skies.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Flying juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron with Promontory Mountains in the distance, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/black-crowned-night-heron-juvenile-flight-promontory-mia-mcpherson-2755.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/black-crowned-night-heron-juvenile-flight-promontory-mia-mcpherson-2755.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/black-crowned-night-heron-juvenile-flight-promontory-mia-mcpherson-2755.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/black-crowned-night-heron-juvenile-flight-promontory-mia-mcpherson-2755.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":31489,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/11\/01\/waiting-for-the-shot-black-crowned-night-heron\/","url_meta":{"origin":101968,"position":1},"title":"Waiting For The Shot – Black-crowned Night Heron","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 1, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"On the first of September I was at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge when I spotted a Black-crowned Night Heron hidden in the phragmites.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Black-crowned Night Heron flying over the refuge, Bear River National Wildlife Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/black-crowned-night-heron-flight-mia-mcpherson-3421.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/black-crowned-night-heron-flight-mia-mcpherson-3421.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/black-crowned-night-heron-flight-mia-mcpherson-3421.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/black-crowned-night-heron-flight-mia-mcpherson-3421.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5320,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/07\/10\/black-crowned-night-heron-fly-by\/","url_meta":{"origin":101968,"position":2},"title":"Black-crowned Night Heron Fly By","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 10, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I spent yesterday morning photographing at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in Box Elder County, Utah. Black-crowned Night Herons seemed to be everywhere on the south side of the auto tour loop, both adults and hatch year birds.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Black-crowned Night Heron in flight at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/black-crowned-night-heron-flight-mia-mcpherson-4224.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/black-crowned-night-heron-flight-mia-mcpherson-4224.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Black-crowned Night Heron in flight over the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/black-crowned-night-heron-flight-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-4478.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/black-crowned-night-heron-flight-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-4478.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/black-crowned-night-heron-flight-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-4478.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/black-crowned-night-heron-flight-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-4478.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Some photos just make me laugh and this spring Black-crowned Night Heron butt shot image does just that.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Spring Black-crowned Night Heron butt shot, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/black-crowned-night-heron-adult-butt-shot-mia-mcpherson-1970.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/black-crowned-night-heron-adult-butt-shot-mia-mcpherson-1970.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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