[mou] Possible Juv. Yellow-crowned Night Heron-Mpls

[Diana Doyle]

Yesterday morning  at 7:20 am I noticed a juvenile heron that was  
very different than the usual juvenile and adult black-crowned night  
herons that frequent this stretch of Minnehaha Creek in Minneapolis.

The bird was on the s. side of the creek, w. of 28th Ave. S., where  
the creek exits Lake Hiawatha. At that time I noted the following  
field marks:

long greenish-yellow legs, dark overall color (not light brown like  
bcnh), back spreckled with tiny white dots, front with fine  
streaking, bill heavy and all black (noticed this was a very  
different bill than the juv bcnh), face with a bit of lighter area  
below cheek, seemed smaller because was slimmer, not as chunky as the  
bcnh juveniles.

I couldn't relocate the bird this morning, so tried again this  
evening with Linda Whyte. The creek was flooded with today's  
rainfall, eliminating all their usual sandbars and low perches. But  
at Lake Hiawatha, at about 7:30 pm, we saw at least 8 night herons  
all grouped along the shore on the west side of where the creek  
enters the lake. We walked onto the golf course, just across the golf  
cart creek bridge, to get a closer view.

We did see what we believe is the same bird. Although the light was  
fading fast, we noted the following additional field marks:

long slim neck, red eye, dark color with small white spots on back  
(although color not to be trusted due to low light), when it flew off  
we carefully watched the legs and feet, and the legs and feet clearly  
showed extended past the tail (this field mark was very clear against  
the cloudy sky despite the low light).

I hope someone else can locate this bird and verify our sighting!

Diana Doyle
S. Minneapolis


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