{"id":59116,"date":"2019-07-19T05:07:55","date_gmt":"2019-07-19T11:07:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=59116"},"modified":"2025-09-22T07:38:40","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T12:38:40","slug":"focusing-on-an-adult-black-crowned-night-heron","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/07\/19\/focusing-on-an-adult-black-crowned-night-heron\/","title":{"rendered":"Focusing On An Adult Black-crowned Night Heron"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AdultAdult Black-crowned Night Heron at the edge of the Bear River \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

People who regularly read my blog posts may recognize the adult Black-crowned Night Heron in these photos because I shared one image of it in a June post titled “Highlights Of My Bird Photography Trip Yesterday to Bear River MBR<\/span><\/a>” where I shared several of the bird species I photographed the day before at the refuge. Since that post already had quite a few images I decided that I would share more of this heron at a later date. Today is a later date.<\/p>\n

This Black-crowned Night Heron spent some time resting on a small spit of high ground that jutted out into the Bear River.<\/p>\n

\"StillStill adult Black-crowned Night Heron \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Although the setting was a little cluttered looking this is precisely where I would expect to see this species only they are often more hidden from view so when they are out in the open I jump at the chance to take photos of them. Besides I love the inclusion of habitat in my bird photos.<\/p>\n

\"Black-crownedBlack-crowned Night Heron striking at prey \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The Black-crowned Night Heron also spent some time hunting for prey that day and this photo shows it striking at something near the edge of the water.<\/p>\n

I was glad to focus on the Black-crowned Night Herons I saw that morning because of late I have seen fewer of them than I have on past years which has meant fewer opportunities to photograph them.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

I was glad to focus on the Black-crowned Night Herons I saw that morning because of late I have seen fewer of them than I have on past years which has meant fewer opportunities to photograph them.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":157492,"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":[4004,4529,1533,4053,7037,627,626,4094,3956,3957,4292,4106,5558,7469,2051,313],"class_list":["post-59116","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-bear-river","tag-black-crowned-night-heron","tag-breeding-plumage","tag-edge","tag-heron","tag-herons","tag-marsh","tag-night-heron","tag-night-herons","tag-nycticorax-nycticorax","tag-prey","tag-river","tag-still","tag-striking","tag-wading-birds"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/black-crowned-night-heron-marsh-mia-mcpherson-5648.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-fnu","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":101968,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/04\/29\/adult-black-crowned-night-heron-in-flight\/","url_meta":{"origin":59116,"position":0},"title":"Adult Black-crowned Night Heron In Flight","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 29, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","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 in front of the Promontory Mountains, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/black-crowned-night-heron-adult-flight-mia-mcpherson-2033.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/black-crowned-night-heron-adult-flight-mia-mcpherson-2033.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/black-crowned-night-heron-adult-flight-mia-mcpherson-2033.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/black-crowned-night-heron-adult-flight-mia-mcpherson-2033.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":59116,"position":1},"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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