I seem to be completing some photographer’s list of marsh land birds! This morning was particularly hot at the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, and I was lucky enough to photograph the juvenile green heron (Butorides virescens) of Figure 1. He was fishing in one of the outlets to the river and was well hidden by the vegetation. At one point he headed among the plants and lunged unsuccessfully at a little bullfrog. Fortunately for the frog it managed to escape leaping onto a flat of mud.

I personally have never seen green herons at Great Meadows before. I’ve photographed them in Black’s Nook in Cambridge and in Florida. Because of their iridescent greens they are one of my favorites.

Canon T2i with 100-400 mm f/4.5 to 5.6 L USM IS lens at 210 mm, Aperture Priority AE Mode, ISO 1600, 1/800 sec at f/7.1 with no exposure compensation