A Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron was on the railing at the boardwalk entrance when I arrived this morning. The bird had a beaten-up beak that resembled black ash. The short white feathers of its cheek, head, and forehead were colored like salt and pepper. Since the feathers near its beak were a little longer than usual, the bird had a fuzzy, unkempt appearance. It fearlessly looked at me. I approached it, but it did not move. I thought that it was the old Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron from last year. I asked the bird, “is that you?” The bird just stood there. I wanted to get closer to it, but since I had not seen it in that spot before, I did not want to scare it away. The bird saw something in the distance and flew down to the dead tree trunk floating near the enclosure of the horsetails on the left side of the boardwalk entrance. I did not have a chance to examine the marks on its forehead, but thought it looked strikingly similar to the old Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron that I remember seeing last year. I was excited!
The color of the Algae covering the wetlands has turned golden beige. The wetlands looked like a field of wheat growing on a farm, just before the fall harvest. The morning procession of the three American Coots, black birds with white beaks and white marks on the tail, in the middle of the golden-colored wetlands was a gorgeous sight to behold.
Near the boardwalk exit, a Nutria had cut down some Cattail leaves. It was holding a leaf with both hands and deliciously eating it.
I walked passed the Landing and saw a Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron busily hunting on the middle of the barrier between the Landing and the diving facility. The bird started walking toward the Bald Cypress tree. The whiteness of its head and forehead suddenly hit my eyes. It appeared very white against the green plants surrounding it. The bird was so focused at looking at the water that it did not notice me standing nearby. As the bird passed in front of me while it was walking towards the Bald Cypress tree, I was glad to see that there were no marks on its forehead. I realized that it was the young Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron! I was glad to see it, especially since last time I saw it at the boardwalk entrance it was being chased away by the older one dot Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron.
A large Nutria was resting under the Bald Cypress tree. It saw the young Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron coming towards it, and made a big splash as it jumped into the water.
I saw the juvenile Great Blue Heron elegantly flying towards the diving platform. It landed on the platform next to a Glass Bottom boat, which was docked there. It stretched its long neck and peeked into the boat through the window. It was cute to see the bird’s innocent curiosity.
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