I go for walks in this park quite frequently on my lunch hours, which is why I was a bit sheepish to learn that a number of Black-crowned Night-Herons were hanging around there — and not hidden away in a tangle or high in a tree, either, but sitting in full view just offshore on one of the islands in the middle of the pond.

A juvenile was sleeping at the water’s edge when I arrived today.  As their name implies, Night-Herons are primarily active after dark, and spend most of the day resting.  Awake or asleep, herons are particularly talented at keeping absolutely still, and while this makes them easy to sketch, it can nonetheless make them very boring models after the first few pages.  Black-crowns are usually very shy birds, however, so I wasn’t about the waste the opportunity.

The adults are quite photogenic, with a bold plumage of black, white and grey accented by blood red eyes.  A pair of white head plumes arc across their hunched shoulders.  It’s quite a different garb from the streaky brown juveniles, but their stout bodies make all of them instantly recognizable as Nigh-Herons.