{"id":64383,"date":"2020-02-15T05:32:13","date_gmt":"2020-02-15T12:32:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=64383"},"modified":"2025-09-22T08:42:49","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T13:42:49","slug":"early-morning-immature-black-crowned-night-heron","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/02\/15\/early-morning-immature-black-crowned-night-heron\/","title":{"rendered":"Early Morning Immature Black-crowned Night Heron"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ImmatureImmature Black-crowned Night Heron warming up in the morning light \u2013 Nikon D500, f10, 1\/1250, ISO 500, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I spent some time yesterday morning focused on photographing an immature Black-crowned Night Heron at the dawn of the day in the marsh at Farmington Bay WMA<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

The young Black-crowned Night Heron was positioned where it could enjoy the warmth of the sun rising over the Wasatch Mountains just east of the WMA after spending the night in chilly temps.<\/p>\n

\"YawningYawning immature Black-crowned Night Heron \u2013 Nikon D500, f10, 1\/1250, ISO 500, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The immature heron yawned. This was a long yawn for a wading bird, I have twenty-two more images that I took during this yawning session stored on my hard drive now.<\/p>\n

At the time I took these photos I actually wondered if the bird was going to expel a pellet but it was merely a big yawn.<\/p>\n

\"ImmatureImmature Black-crowned Night Heron stretching its wings \u2013 Nikon D500, f10, 1\/1000, ISO 500, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

After the yawn the young Black-crowned Night Heron stretched its wings and neck. I took thirty-one images of this behavior.<\/p>\n

\"PreeningPreening immature Black-crowned Night Heron in winter \u2013 Nikon D500, f10, 1\/2000, ISO 500, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

And then as if on cue the immature night heron preened its feathers in the warmth of the morning sun.<\/p>\n

I took a lot of images while the heron preened, probably too many, but in my experience I’ve noticed that these birds take their time while they preen.<\/p>\n

\"YoungYoung Black-crowned Night Heron scratching its bill \u2013 Nikon D500, f10, 1\/2000, ISO 500, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

After the preening session the young heron scratched at its bill with its foot. I could see downy bits of feathers stuck on the end of the bill in a few photos and perhaps those bits of fluff irritated the heron.<\/p>\n

Over the past four to five years I have noticed a decline in the numbers of Black-crowned Night Herons that I see in the marshes of Farmington Bay WMA and Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge so I have been happy to see and photograph a few of them on the last two visits I have made to Farmington Bay WMA.<\/p>\n

If asked to describe the demeanor of this species in one word I’d have to say that word would be “chill” because they usually seem so calm to me.<\/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

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I spent some time yesterday morning focused on photographing an immature Black-crowned Night Heron at the dawn of the day in the marsh at Farmington Bay WMA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":157502,"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":[27,321,1022,697,26],"tags":[5552,1533,2061,8721,627,626,4067,4094,4378,4099,3956,3957,4292,4059,6428,4019,4156,4541,3964,4985,5498,373,5822,340,4193],"class_list":["post-64383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-black-crowned-night-herons","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-utah","tag-bill","tag-black-crowned-night-heron","tag-calm","tag-chill","tag-heron","tag-herons","tag-immature","tag-marsh","tag-morning","tag-morning-light","tag-night-heron","tag-night-herons","tag-nycticorax-nycticorax","tag-phragmites","tag-phrags","tag-preening-2","tag-resting","tag-scratching","tag-stretching","tag-warming-up","tag-wings","tag-winter","tag-yawn","tag-yawning","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/black-crowned-night-heron-immature-wing-stretch-mia-mcpherson-0227.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-gKr","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":109677,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/01\/18\/immature-black-crowned-night-heron\/","url_meta":{"origin":64383,"position":0},"title":"Immature Black-crowned Night Heron – Where Are The Birds?","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 18, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"While going through my archives I found this photo of a fishing immature Black-crowned Night Heron taken 10 years ago today at Farmington Bay WMA.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Black-crowned Night Heron fishing, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/black-crowned-night-heron-young-fishing-mia-mcpherson-2077.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/black-crowned-night-heron-young-fishing-mia-mcpherson-2077.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Flight","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 27, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"While going through my archives this morning, I found this photo of a Black-crowned Night Heron in flight. It was taken in the marsh at Farmington Bay WMA in 2021.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Winter Black-crowned Night Heron in flight, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/black-crowned-night-heron-adult-flight-marsh-mia-mcpherson-6511.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/black-crowned-night-heron-adult-flight-marsh-mia-mcpherson-6511.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/black-crowned-night-heron-adult-flight-marsh-mia-mcpherson-6511.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Ice","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 20, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"On a January morning in 2013 I photographed this juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron on ice for about a half an hour at Farmington Bay.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron on ice, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/black-crowned-night-heron-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-7924.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-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-7924.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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