Malayan Heron

      Until fairly recently, one I knew had been able to tell me what kind of herons these birds are.  Of three birding books I have, not one of them has any photos of them.  Two other Americans I know have seen them, and we agree that they're a species of heron.  I found them along Shuangxi Riverside Park in Shih-lin one night during the summer of 2009.

      They stand taller than black-crowned night herons.  If you get too close to them, they walk away rather than fly away.  I did see a couple of them fly, and I took a picture of one in flight.  I've never seen them during the day, which is why all of these pictures are night shots.

     On July 31, 2010, also at Shuangxi Riverside Park, I saw the following heron near the Wen-lin Road Bridge.  This time it was in broad daylight.  Unlike the other occasion, though, the bird wouldn't let me get close.

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     Now I know what  they're called.  They're Malayan herons.  Ray Heberer III, the Taiwan District Commissionor of the Boy Scouts of America, told me while we were on a Boy Scout trip.  Below are some more recent, fairly close-up photos I took while biking to Danshui.

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