#19: Green Heron - Sandy Creek Park, NC

Like I’ve mentioned before, Sandy Creek Park kind of became a standby for James and I, a place we’d visit almost every day because we can drive there in three minutes or so. By the time mid-summer rolled around, the pond nearest the parking lot began to grow mudflats along its edges, which attracted a whole different league of birds. All of a sudden, we started seeing Killdeer, Least Sandpipers, and this cooperative Green Heron.

Green Heron - Sandy Creek Park, NC; 06/29/2010

Usually when we’d find a Green Heron at Sandy Creek, it'd fly off before we could get too close, bailing for the largest pond with a series of loud croaks. We found this guy as we were ending our loop around the small pond, and luckily, he didn’t seem to mind us. James employed that tried and true method known as the Jackal mode, weaving his way through the reeds until he was face-to-face with the Green Heron in question, and snapped the winning shot. And check out that extend-o-neck! Definitely one of the cooler birds we get around here in the summer.