ML358436311

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

Second time's the charm!!! This southern stray was originally discovered and photographed by Saskatoon birder Kosala Rajapaksha earlier this morning. Subsequently, the YCNH was relocated by several S'toon and up-from-Regina birders mid-afternoon. As usual, here’s the much-too-long Wapple 'prequel'. After "dipping" earlier with birding pal Ryan, Sandra and I returned home to continue with yard work to get ready for our daughter Morgan's wedding shower on Tuesday. I later texted with my birding pal Dan and his Regina crew. They were driving up from the Queen City to 'chase' and I asked him to please keep me informed. In the meantime, Sandra and I got wrapped up with yet another yard project!!! With the phone inside charging, I missed Dan - and other birder's - texts - not too mention phone calls from Stan Shadick and Craig Salisbury! - with the news that the YCNH had indeed been relocated!!! :O C'est la vie. 😳😩🤬 Altho' close to an hour had now passed, my buddy Nick then texted that he and his wife Jenn had seen it about 30 minutes previously. As usual, Sandra said: "Just go!" While retracing my steps from earlier this morning, I managed to avoid any speeding tickets!!! ;P This time, Birding Karma smiled down on me and I soon found the lost heron close to the SE corner of the 'Trounce Pond'!!! :) I was able to view it as close as 25m with my Nikon Monarch 5 8X42 binocs and Kowa TSN-773 25-60X spotting scope. Field marks noted: Medium-sized, stocky heron with smooth gray plumage overall; bold black and white striped head with white cheeks; buffy-white crown with very light yellow-tinged forehead; red eye; fairly thick black bill; upper wing coverts darker gray with pale gray margins; yellow-orange legs. During my observation period, the bird initially spent several minutes preening, then sleeping on the shore for short periods of time. Later, the YCNH took slow, deliberate steps from the shoreline, entering the edge of the pond to forage. At this time, the bird appeared much more alert, revealing a longer, more conspicuous neck. Just as I was leaving, another vehicle pulled up beside me. They obviously were birders, but I couldn’t put a name to the faces. I figured I’d get them "on" the bird before leaving, so got out to greet them. As it turned out, it was old friend Pete Hardie, who I hadn’t seen in many years! I pointed the YCNH to him and his wife - her name slips my mind now – and returned happily home. I've previously seen YCNH during birding tours of Costa Rica (2008) and Panama (2014). Having said that, I was absolutely THRILLED to see this lovely species in my home province!!! It was species #345 for Saskatchewan and needless to say, NEW for 2021!!!

Technical information

Model

Canon PowerShot SX720 HS

ISO

320

Focal length

172 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/6.9

Shutter speed

1/200 sec

Dimensions

1024 pixels x 768 pixels

Original file size

728.67 KB