Pop Up

This juvenile little blue heron surprised me with a quick pop up out from the reeds in the salt marsh this afternoon.

Little blue herons are interesting because they start out their lives as all white immature birds, then gradually begin to change into the blue adults they will eventually become. At this stage they can easily be confused with snowy egrets which are almost identical. But snowys start out white and remain all white into adult hood.

I was happy to see this guy because I generally see a lot more adult little blues then the juveniles so it was a fun sight!

11 thoughts on “Pop Up”

Charlie@Seattle Trekker on September 3, 2015 at 12:23 am said:

They are so stunningly beautiful…Love the action you captured, great shot.

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- Phil Lanoue on September 4, 2015 at 4:57 pm said:
  
  Thanks very much, they really are pretty little herons.
  
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foxleylady on September 3, 2015 at 5:43 am said:

You lucky man, Phil! The background shows this gorgeous bird off to perfection, so you are not only lucky but clever too!

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- Phil Lanoue on September 4, 2015 at 4:58 pm said:
  
  Believe it or not, I actually think about, and try to get birds in an appealing background setting. Sometimes they cooperate and fly in those spots but mostly they don’t.
  Thanks Maggie! 🙂
  
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Lyle Krahn on September 3, 2015 at 10:45 am said:

That’s a beauty! Thankfully you can tell the difference because if I had the luxury of capturing them, I’d never get the names right.

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- Phil Lanoue on September 4, 2015 at 5:01 pm said:
  
  This is one bird that I have to look more then once or twice to be sure it’s not a snowy egret, they are so close to identical. But that’s also one of the main reasons I don’t spend much time trying to find and photograph the tiny birds, they have so many minute variations it would drive me crazy for sure.
  Thanks for checking this out!
  
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Gunta on September 3, 2015 at 5:41 pm said:

I sure wouldn’t be able to tell them apart!

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- Phil Lanoue on September 4, 2015 at 5:02 pm said:
  
  This one can be tough. Tougher than most. I have to look a few times to try to be sure sure on these guys vs. the snowys.
  
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Littlesundog on September 3, 2015 at 9:30 pm said:

Gorgeous!!

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- Phil Lanoue on September 4, 2015 at 5:02 pm said:
  
  Hey thanks a million, glad you liked this cool little guy!
  
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Dawn on September 10, 2015 at 8:09 pm said:

This may have solved a big question for me. I’ve been trying to identify a bird on the edges of my lake in the upstate for 3 days. Perhaps, tomorrow am, with a new look, I may know what I have!
Thanks for sharing all of your work with us, and your knowledge as well!

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