Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Squacco Heron(Ardeola ralloides)



No one around so  Use the gangplank as a hunting post.





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The Squacco Heron  this is a migrating bird to these parts of the Nile all through the winter from around October up until end of march,   last week I saw one,   today I saw many not sure  which is the male but the one in flight is a bit larger than the one with the blue beak. both are in full breeding plumage.



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Not sure if they are being inquisitive about this big camera,    I have never got this close to them before. 

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The Squacco herons  are back now the Nile has come up on depth  and covered  what is left of the inlet. the heron is here in the upper delta all year,  but is usually a loner seeking its food along the banks of the Nile river in what is normally a fast flowing river,   here on the banana island inlet. the water comes in and is now stopped by the landfill some 100 yards from the flowing Nile. as the photos show there id a lot of floating debris most of this is normal from the last years growth of reeds and plants along the Nile, it is also what the fish feed on often I see a reed movement  where a fish is feeding on whatever on the stem of the reed below water. and this is what the squacco heron watches before it dives in for the kill  today where normally I only see one Squacco  I saw 25  today  and they where quite near to each other often having squabbles who should be where.




Three Squacco and a Little egret.



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A young Squacco heron,
all the breeds of young herons seem to have green legs, even the Little Egret
who have black legs and yellow feet in adults.




This is the adult Squacco heron young have a more orange plumage and the beak has an aqua tinge.
Eyes too big for its beak but eventually after getting the fish in the right position down it went.




Three Squacco and a Little egret.




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A young Squacco heron,
all the breeds of young herons seem to have green legs, even the Little Egret
who have black legs and yellow feet in adults.




This is the adult Squacco heron young have a more orange plumage and the beak has an aqua tinge.
Eyes too big for its beak but eventually after getting the fish in the right position down it went.




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2 comments:

Mary said...

What a beautiful bird! I like its color a lot. Very excellent shots!

Redzlan said...

Beautiful Herons series.
Love that in flight shots.

Photo log of birds to date

71 birds to date 13/5/10

Latest bird

Blue-cheeked bee-eater, merops superciliosus.

Avadavat (amandava amandava),
Barbary falcon (falco pelegrinoides) ,
Black Headed Gull (Larus ridibundus)27/2/10
Black-winged kite(elanus caeruleus),

Blue-cheeked bee-eater, merops superciliosus. 22/4/10


Bluethroat. Luscinia svecica
Caspian plover Charadrius asiaticus..4.4.10
Cattle egret (bubulcus ibis),
Collared Dove,Streptopelia decaocto 10/1/2010
Clamorous reed warbler , Acrocephalus stentoureus 23/3/10
Collared pratincole, Glareola pratincola 4/4/10
Crag Martin (ptyonoprogne rupestris),
Grey flycatcher Muscicapa striata
crested lark ( galerida cristata),
Common Snipe ,Gallinago gallinago ,23/9/10
Common Tern, (Sterna hirundo) 28/11/09
Common
sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos 28/11/09
Common bulbul, Pycnonotus barbatus.
Great Cormorant, phalacrocorax carbo.
Cyprus warbler, sylvia melanothotax 8/12/09
fan-tailed cisticola. cisticola juncidis
Ailsbury ducks
Kestrel falco naumanni

Graceful Prinia, Prinia gracilis 19/1/10
Great white egret (Egreta alba) 28/11/09 named" 12/09
Grey Heron (ardea cinerea),
Greylag goose (Anser anser),
Glossy ibis, Plegadis falcinellus4/12/09
Gull-billed tern Sterna nilotica
Hoopoe (upupa epops),
Hooded crow(corvus corvone cornix),
House sparrow (passer domesticus),

Honey Buzzard pernis apivorus,22/4/10
Hume's Tawny Owl. Strix butlery 15/8/2010

Laughing dove , streptopelia senegalensis
Lesser spotted Eagle,Aquila pomarina 19/1/10
Lesser whitethroat,sylvia curruca 18/3/10
Little bittern (Ixorychus minutes), i(1) female Aswan
Little stint, Calidris minuta
Little white egret (Egretta garzetta),
Little green bee-eater (merops orientalis),
marsh sandpiper,Triga stagnatilis,4.4.10
Moorhen (gallinule chlorous),
Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax),
Nile valley sun bird(Anthreptes metallicus
Olivaceous warbler (hippolais pillada),
Olive-tree warbler (hippolais olivetorum),
Pied kingfisher (ceryle rudis), all year
Purple Heron (Ardea purpurea) 28/11/09
Purple gallinule (porphyrio porphyrio),
Red rumped swallow (hirundo daurica),
Sandpiper (Actitis hytoleucos) 28/11/09

Sedge warbler, Acrocephalus schoenobaeus.

Senegal Thick-knee ,Burhinus senegalensis.


ssouthern grey shrike,lanius meridionalis,9/ 2010
Scrub warbler Scotocerca inquita), June
Spur-winged plover (hoplopterus spinosus),
.Streaked Fantail Warbler (Cisticola juncidis)
Squacco Heron(Ardeola ralloides) , may all year
Striated heron (butorides striatus), May
Stork, Ciconia ciconia), August
Temminck's Stint, Calidris temminckii. 4/4/10
Thrush Nightingale,Luscinia luscinia 13/5/10
Turtle dove(stretopelia turtur),
White wagtail ( motacilla alba),
Wood sandpiper (Tringa glareola) 2/12/09
Willow warbler Phylloscopus trochilus...
yellow-billed kite Milvus aegyptius
Yellow wagtail(motacilla flava), sept/
yellow wagtail ( black headed) 1/may 10
Water pipit, Anthus spinoletta.
Whitethroat, Sylvia communis
Wryneck, Jynx torquilla 8/4/10


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