Every bird lover has that one special bird that started it all. In my early camera years I always loved taking photos of animals. When I purchased my first dSLR I was sure to get a telephoto lens right away because I knew that I would want to photograph wildlife. I would visit Colonial Park in Somerset, New Jersey where I started photographing geese and ducks because they were the easiest targets. It was not long before I saw a Heron for the first time. A bird so beautiful and majestic, graceful and proud. In May 2008, I saw the bird that would change everything.
My first Great Blue Heron, cropped with a lower quality lens
After taking countless photos of waterfowl, this was the bird that I wanted to get a great photo of. When I went home, I found out that it is a Great Blue Heron. A very common bird, yet I never remember seeing one before. It was not until August that I finally got fairly close to one.
My second Great Blue Heron, shot with a Canon 55-250 lens
I spent two hours watching the bird, enjoying his beauty. I hoped that he would fly so that I could try a flight shot, but he wouldn’t budge. It turned out that I had to leave the bird! The next time I went to the park was after work, so it was already late. I did not find a Great Blue Heron until it was near dark, but I did find another interesting relative.
Green Heron
A much smaller bird in the Ardeidae family, the Green Heron. I soon found that this one was even more difficult to get close to. Most of the time I would only see them when they were spooked away by me walking by. They were just too quick!
The following weekend, I photographed both birds at the same park. I was getting closer to the perfect shot, but was still not quite there yet.
Great Blue Heron
Green Heron
A couple of months later, I found another beautiful long-legged bird. This one was all white and gorgeous as ever. The Great Egret became a new target bird, along with my other Heron friends. My first sighting of it was in a tree only for about a minute. I later found it perched along the bank.
Great Egret
I would often go to the park after work, so I lost lighting quickly for bird photography. I started to become a bit creative with my photos.
Great Blue Heron Silhouette
But most of the time, I would end up getting photos of a bird who was flying away.
Great Blue Heron flying away
The next time that I would see a Great Blue Heron was in the middle of winter on a nice February afternoon. Some of the water was frozen over and I enjoyed watching as geese and ducks would slide around on top of the ice. The Heron quickly stole my attention when it landed on the bank right next to me.
Great Blue Heron
I enjoyed watching him fish for twenty minutes until he flew off in the other direction. An hour later, I caught back up to my feathered friend and watched him fish some more. He must have been hungry! He tried to grab an already dead fish that was much too large for him.
Great Blue Heron with a large catch
He fished in the open and searched under bridges for whatever he could find in the recently thawed waters. Pickings seemed to be slim.
Great Blue Heron
The only fish he caught were very small, so he had to keep going at it.
Great Blue Heron with a small snack
This was my chance. The Heron did not care that I was right there next to him. He would walk right up to me and right past me, continuing his search for small fish. I patiently stayed still and watched him, enjoying every bit of the show he gave me.
Great Blue Heron
He was so close, that I could get shots of his head that filled up the entire frame.
Great Blue Heron
And shots that were too close for the frame!
Great Blue Heron up close
My earliest target bird dream had come true. I had the perfect photos of the perfect bird, shot with my new Canon 70-200mm F4 lens… yeah, he was close! You do not get this type of opportunity close-up in central New Jersey off the coast very often.
Great Blue Heron
It was hard to top that experience. I never got that close again. My next great experiences happened at new location at Johnson Park in Piscattaway. Here, I saw a Black-crowned Night Heron for the first time!
Juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron
A couple of weeks later at this park, I found myself passing by more Herons and Egrets that were not disturbed by my presence.
Great Egret
Great Blue Heron perched above the trail
Young Great Blue Heron
My journey for better photos of Great Egrets also proved to be a success from different locations.
Great Egret at Boland Pond in Binghamton, New York
Great Egret at Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, New Jersey
Great Egret in Cape May Meadows, New Jersey
I also found two very interesting Herons abroad. In Costa Rica in the Corcovado Rain Forest, we came across a Bared-throated Tiger Heron who was perched above a waterfall.
Bared-throated Tiger Heron in Costa Rica
And in Italy, near Naples I found a bird that I really wanted to see – a beautiful Squacco Heron!
Squacco Heron in Italy
I also saw two types of Egrets in Italy, Little Egrets in the same area as the Squacco Herons and many Cattle Egrets in Isola della Sola.
Little Egret in Italy
Cattle Egret
My most recent exciting Ardeidae experience came during a drive through Nummy Island in New Jersey this past fall. We had five different types of them in one location! Great Blue, Tri-colored and Little Blue Herons along with Great and Snowy Egrets. This was my first time photographing Snowy Egrets up close and they certainly did not disappoint me!
Snowy Egret in flight
Snowy Egret chasing off another
Herons still fascinate me and will always hold a special place in my birding-heart. One day, I would love to go to Florida and be able to photograph them up close. I also really want great photos of my next target Heron, a Tri-colored Heron!
Great Blue Heron
If you made it this far, please comment and let me know your “gateway” bird!