My owl friends: amazing photo day part 1

This was a very magical day! I went to 3 different places to photograph and saw the most incredible wildlife :) So since it was a very long day, I'm gonna do it in 3 parts.
The first place I went was my favorite spot- the lake behind the Belmar library. I got there
around 8am which was perfect! The light was good and there were only a few people jogging or walking their dogs. I headed over to the stream and there was my first snowy egret of the season. I never get tired of admiring their beauty. This one was fishing like crazy!

As I was photographing the snowy, a man walking his dog came up to me. He mentioned he had seen a great blue heron. I nodded and said thanks. Then he said he also saw a black crowned night heron. What!!! I was so excited! I had seen one last summer but did not get any good pics. So he gave me some good directions and I hustled over to the spot. It took me a couple of minutes and then I spotted him!

He was perched in the bushes but I managed to get a couple of shots. Then he flew off to a nearby tree but the great blue heron was there. The GBH made a fuss when the little heron showed up, so he flew across the lake and landed near the shore line. I ran as fast as I could which is not easy when you're carrying about 8 pounds of camera equipment :)

I got as close as I could and got this shot.

He finally decided I was too close, so he flew off. I tried to get some flight shots and while doing that, I forgot to watch where he was flying to.

Damn! I had lost him! Oh well, I was happy with the pics I got, so I continued around the lake. When I got to the east side, I saw my wood duck friends...I never get tired of seeing this beautiful bird.

I decided to go back and see if I could get some good pics of the great blue heron. There he was standing near the shore line. I took a couple of pics and then looked up to see the black crowned night heron sitting above him! I about peed in my pants! He was in the perfect spot for some pics! I probably took over 50 shots..thank goodness for digital! As I was shooting, a couple was walking by with their dog. I could see they were trying to be quiet as they walked by. I asked them if they'd like to see something cool! I pointed out the little heron and they got some pics with a little point and shoot.