Night Herons at Fort Hill

Years ago I happened to be at Fort Hill around dusk waiting to watch the sunset and noticed that all around me black crowned night herons were vocalizing and flying out over the marsh where they feed. And yes, they feed at night or just after dusk, hence their name.

Black crowned night herons are fairly common on the Cape though they tend to secretive by day and some people never seem to see them. There once was a huge colony at Sandy Neck but over the years that rookery was destroyed again and again and if they are once again nesting there it is not in the same numbers that once proliferated there. There is a great account of that old Sandy Neck rookery here.

The bird above is a black crowned night heron. We also can see yellow crowned night herons here. I don't have one of my own pictures of a yellow crowned night heron but you can see what one looks like here. Immature night herons are pretty stripey and brown and can be confusing to identify by species, especially since they tend to hang out in the reeds and can be confused with bitterns if one just gets a quick look. Immature Green herons are also brown and stripey.

This weekend we had to go to Wellfleet just after dusk so it was a great time to stop at Hemenway Landing in Eastham to watch for night herons. We were not alone. There were probably a dozen other birders there. You can also reach Hemenway Landing by following the trail from the Fort Hill parking lots and there is also a great place to watch where the little pavillion and big rock are along the trail--that is actually where I usually watch them from...

The sky got darker and the almost full moon rose...

and then we began to hear them... quawk!!!! quawk!!! They sound like some funny old man squawking as they fly overhead and in some parts of the country they are actually referred to as quawks....

One after another they flew over our heads, circling around the marsh and creeks looking for a good place to land. We watched several dozen arrive and land before we had to head off. As the sky darkened it was harder and harder to see them through binoculars but we are pretty sure there was at least one yellow crowned among them...

Anyway, if you're in the area around sundown....take a few moments to catch the night heron show before they begin to migrate....it's a sight you won't soon forget...

My pictures of the birds didn't really come out--but here's one of my sad attempts--between the low light and the movement my camera wasn't up to catching them....

but it did catch this...

and this...