Birdland: Sharing The Island

Black-crowned Night Herons are rather small herons, roughly between the size of a crow and a goose. In the spring, Black-crowned Night Herons return to the heavily treed island on the east side of Ferril Lake. There, they build their nests and share the island for the summer with snowy egrets, along with a few cattle egrets and turtles that sun themselves on the rocks at the edge. The herons forage in the evening and spend their days perched in trees, concealed among the branches. This Black-crowned Night Heron was photographed at City Park by Park Hill resident Mark Silverstein.