Up close and personal with a green heron
Green-backed heron (Photo by Keith Barr)
On May 07, 2014 I noticed a report on the Saskbirds website (a Yahoo discussion forum about the natural history of Saskatchewan's birds) of a green heron sighting at Dunnet Park near Avonlea, Saskatchewan. Two friends of mine went out to see the bird that evening and found it and got photos. They phoned me and gave me directions.
Since I had never seen this species of bird before, a friend and I left Regina the next morning to go look for it. We did not have to hunt for the bird as another person was already there and was looking at it through his scope. I got several photos of the heron and I sent one to everyone on my email address book and got nothing but nice response from all.
The Avonlea area has been an excellent area to find rare birds for me, starting in 1975 when my son and I located three families of whooping cranes all together and were able to photograph them. I have also taken photos of the more common birds of the area. Last July I was able to photograph another bird I had never seen before: a dickissel.
And now, the green heron was this year's special find.
Green-backed heron (Photo by Keith Barr)
