Birds Mooching from Fishermen

     Only a few years ago, birds were quite shy of humans.  Then Shuangshi Creek Park was developed, and birds gradually overcame their fear of people.  As time went on, birds and fishermen developed a sort of relationship.  In the photos below, a black-crowned night heron and a little egret wait for a fisherman to throw them a fish that's too small to take home.

     In the photo below, you can see that there were two birds.  The heron and the egret watched until a fisherman threw a fish to them.  Each raced to get it before the other could.  The night heron got it.  The birds then resumed their patient wait for the next fish to be thrown their way.

     For more photos of black-crowned night herons, click here.  For more photos of little egrets, click here.  For more photos of birds keeping company with fishermen, click here.

Shuangshi Creek Park

     Many of my photos were taken in Shuangshi Park, but I've posted most of them among photos of birds.  Here are a few exceptions.

     I frequently see birds keeping company with fishermen.  Sometimes they're waiting for the fisherman to throw away a catch he considers too small to keep.  In the photos below, however, I saw no indication, that the little egrets and black-crowned night herons were waiting for a meal.

     Below is a single black-crowned night heron keeping company with a fisherman.  Only a few years ago, I found it impossible to get close enough to a night heron to get a clear photograph.  Now it's easy.

     For more photos of black-crowned night herons, click here.  For more photos of little egrets, click here.

Black-crowned Night Heron

      As recently as a year ago, it was next to impossible to get close enough to a black-crowned night heron to get clear, unobstructed photos.  I took these two photos (below) during the summer of 2009.  That was the closest I'd ever been able to get to them.

     In July 2010, however, I found that they'd grown used to humans coming within ten meters of them.  After taking the following photos, I discarded most of the other photos I had taken of black-crowned night herons.

     (For more information on the black-crowned night heron, click here.)