When I passed through the covered boardwalk entrance, I saw three Yellow-Crowned-Night Herons standing on the railing. Two of them were juvenile birds! One was slender and similar to the bird that I’ve been seeing the past two days. It was alert, and stretched its neck as it looked around. The other juvenile was chunky, and the fine downy hairs on the top of its head were fluttering in the soft morning breeze. I thought that it was the first outing for that bird.
When I proceed toward the end of the covered entrance, the parent bird looked at me. The feathers of its forehead were a dull white color with brownish and blackish matted spots. I was not sure whether or not I’ve seen this bird before. I wondered if it was the parent of the two young birds.
I backed up slowly and quietly from the covered boardwalk entrance, and quickly went to see whether there was another Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron on the barrier or not. I then saw the young one hunting alone in the middle of the barrier, near the biological research site.
I went back to the boardwalk to observe two juvenile Yellow-Crowned-Night Herons. When I got there I saw a frog hopping in the corner of the covered entrance. I had been hearing them since the early spring, but I had never seen them, so I was glad to finally see one! It was about 2 ¼ or 2 ½ inches long, and it was dark brown with lighter brown oval shapes on both shoulders. I thought that it was going the wrong way, away from the water, but thought that it may have wanted to explore the land, same as the juvenile Nutria once did.
When I got the boardwalk, two juvenile Yellow-Crowned-Night Herons were still sitting on the railing, but the parent was on the floating dead tree trunk on the left side of the entrance, looking down at the water. A bright red Summer Tanger flew in and joined the two juveniles. The beautiful bird changed spots several times, and moved its tail up and down. The area was enhanced by its beautiful color. After it flew into the woods behind the boardwalk, the two juvenile Herons flew to the dirt path where Sammy, a Snapping turtle with a tumor that is under the care of Dr. Rose, was once placed. The two birds walked around the grass and the dirt path together. The chunky bird found a string of dried grass that it liked. It was cute to watch it carry it around. The two birds passed in front of Dr. Rose’s storage shed and walked toward the Swiss Sky Ride. They were suddenly alerted by the golf-cart driven by Rick, the landscaper. The birds turned around and flew back to the railing in front of the boardwalk entrance.
I saw the parent Yellow-Crowned-Night Herons catch a big crayfish. The bird carried it up the bank and placed it on the ground, then returned to the water. The two juveniles flew to the bank, and I saw them eat it. I thought the parent bird intentionally left it there for the young birds. After the meal, the parent flew toward the hillside, and the chunky bird followed closely behind. The slim juvenile, however, did not. It stood on the floating dead tree trunk for a while, and then flew to the other floating dead tree trunk on the right side of the boardwalk entrance. It imitated looking into the water, just as the parent had been doing. It suddenly caught a crayfish! I was happy to see it succeed in hunting. It started eating right away, but the crayfish was too big. It was struggling to swallow it and almost lost its balance on the floating tree trunk. The meal fell from its beaks and went under the water. However, it did not care about retrieving the lost meal, but was instead determined to catch another. It recomposed itself and stood firmly on the tree trunk and looked into the water again. I was glad to see this young bird that had recently emerge from the nest two days ago. It was already hunting and independent from its parents. I was amazed by its determination.
I went to the barrier to see how the young Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron doing. It was not there, but a student employee was busily placing five sets of buckets with various materials used for an educational activity called Bug Picking near the Bald Cypress tree, and five more buckets near the end of the barrier. I thought that Aquarena Center would have a large number of young students arriving this morning for an exciting, educational tour.
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