The ‘Tweener’

Little Blue Herons start out as all white juveniles and look very similar to snowy egrets. As adults, they become almost entirely blue with a small touch of maroon coloring.

When they are at the in between phase, transitioning from immature to adult little blues, they appear as a patchwork checkerboard of blue and white. These are the birds we often refer to as “tweeners”.

This afternoon I saw one flying above me over the salt marsh. Little blue herons are usually high flyers as opposed to skimming just over the reeds as the larger herons often will, so I ended up with these open blue sky shots.

11 thoughts on “The ‘Tweener’”

Vicky on June 29, 2015 at 9:49 pm said:

What an exciting capture! Beautiful!

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- Phil Lanoue on June 29, 2015 at 9:55 pm said:
  
  Thanks Vicky! This is one of my all time favorite bird looks when in this phase.
  
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Gunta on June 30, 2015 at 12:16 am said:

Fascinating to see these guys in their ‘tween’ stage.

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- Phil Lanoue on June 30, 2015 at 8:55 am said:
  
  It is fascinating and much different than many other birds.
  
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Angela on June 30, 2015 at 4:46 am said:

He’s enjoying himself.

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- Phil Lanoue on June 30, 2015 at 8:54 am said:
  
  It was a nice day for a flight!
  
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Anne Baldwin on June 30, 2015 at 10:09 am said:

Thanks for the lesson and for sharing. I am always learning from your post.

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foxleylady on June 30, 2015 at 10:17 am said:

What a beautiful little bird! So different from the adult. Thank you for this Phil, I have learnt yet more about your fantastic wildlife!

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The Lite Rider on June 30, 2015 at 6:23 pm said:

Back at you again! Hope I can stick with it. He’s a really nice looking teenager … love that coloring.

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Pat on June 30, 2015 at 6:29 pm said:

Lovely flight shots.

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Linda on July 1, 2015 at 8:16 am said:

Beautiful shots…thanks Phil

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