Category: birds

Gray Heron

I was fortunate enough to see some gray herons at different Royal Parks in London. It turns out these places are great places to bird watch.

Gray herons are similar in appearance to great blue herons, but are smaller in size. All About Birds has the length of the gray heron being between 35.4-38.6 inches, while the great blue heron is between 38.2-53.9 inches in length.

Gray Heron – Adult

The above pictures appears to be an adult. It has the pronounced black stipe on its head and the beak is lighter. During peak breeding season its beak can be orange.

Gray Heron – Juvenile?

I am guessing this image may be a juvenile gray heron. It does not have the pronounced black and white colours on its head and its beak is darker.

I highly recommend visiting the Royal Parks in London. It is a great way to get in some steps in while being nature in the heart of London.

“In every walk in nature, one receives far more than he seeks.”

John Muir

Bufflehead

Some birds that are native to North America, I have not seen in North America. One such bird is the Bufflehead. I saw this bird for the first time in London, England.

Bufflehead – female

There are sightings in England and Europe for these on All About Birds. I was kind of thrown off in identifying this diving duck. I am far from an expert and the colouring listed online for a bufflehead female appears to be brown, but in these images the duck appears to be black. I will have to look through my pictures more, but I do not think I captured a male. This female was on a pond on a cloudy day. The pond was mostly well shaded by trees hanging over it creating an even darker situation.

Bufflehead – female

In multiple images not taken in consecutive order it appeared maybe a hook was in its beak. I could be wrong, but to be on the safe side I contacted the entity responsible for the pond and they were going to check it out.

Again, I would like to emphasis that sometimes what many think is not the best lighting can still create nice lighting for your images. Don’t discount the cloudy days.

Northern Shoveler ?

I just came back from a little less than 2 weeks in England. I took lots of photos. It was my first visit since before Covid. I took it slow so I did not travel far and wide daily. I believe this bird is a northern shoveler. If I am wrong, let me know.

Northern Shoveler

I saw this bird close to the Thames River in London. I saw a lot of water birds in London through visits to the Royal Parks etc. This bird was in a pond near the Thames River on a cloudy day, and it was a forested area around the pond, so it was dark. This photo has been lightened.

The northern shoveler is a dabbling duck. Dabbling ducks feed on aquatic plants and small invertebrates on or near the surface or the water.

Happy Friday tomorrow!