Youngens (Yellow-crowned Night Herons)

Happy Sunday!

Two young Yellow-crowned Night Herons among at least 50 sharing a roost on the pond behind the Jekyll Island amphitheater. I’ve never seen so many Yellow-crowned…I have, in fact, rarely seen so many herons of one kind anywhere.

I was shooting closer birds with the PhotoScope when I saw this pair and zoomed back for double portrait. I like the attitude these guys are displaying and attempted to frame the shot to convey some of the tension in their posture…which was in marked contrast to the rest of the brood, who were in various stages of lounge around the pond.

Zeiss PhotoScope at 1200mm equivalent. 1/35th second at ISO 200 and about f4.7. Programed auto.

In Lightroom I used mild Recovery for feather highlights, moved the blackpoint to the right just slightly, added Clarity and just a small amount of Vibrance, and used the Sharpen landscape preset.

From Colonial Coast 09.