BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON

Excuse the poor quality. In order to not frighten the bird, stayed some distance away and used an old 8+ iPhone. 10/14/25

Note: Sorry but you'll have to type article addresses in yourself.

August, 2026 Thursday August 6, 2026, husband said he knows he saw 2 juveniles already walking along the shore, from the north lot-line area where the trees are that have always been their nesting spots south to the more social area where they seem to like to stay on the shore when other birds are up in the big old maple tree over-hanging the river.

A few years 2 big branches fell off 2 different trees in a wind sheer event. One branch was the central branch running up the Horse Chestnut tree on our property (mid-shoreline); and a Black Walnut tree, on the south neighbor's lot-line area right behind the maple over-hanging the river. The next day was the first time I saw Juveniles in the daytime. They were hanging out up on the large Virginia Pine tree near the lot-line, in our yard. Amid all those trees, it had become a natural habitat of sorts area with the over-hanging maple, the Black Walnut tree nearby, the shaggy Virginia Pine tree plus the now bigger Bald Cypress on our southern shoreline area. I saw both of juveniles walking along the branches of that tree, together. If I ever tried to get closer for a photo or friendly look, they quickly duck inside. It was good coverage. Ever since then I've wondered if that area was their playground. So husband seeing the 2 juveniles walking down the shore over to that area just this month is a very encouraging sign they are still here.

July, 2026. No visual sightings, although woken up 3 times after midnight to what sounded like them returning for the night. But they do sound a little like the Egrets who hang out at the opposite side of the backyard, on the lot-line tree over-hanging river. Although it's not yet the Egrets seasonal "meet-up" time, a few gather at dusk early. The post-midnight squawks sounded more like the Black-crowned Night Heron, but I was awakened so difficult to say "for sure". It's extremely noisy here this Summer. They might just be hiding out more, or temporarily evacuated. If so, hopefully not as they permanently from the two major rookeries south east from here. There has been construction and chaos here many years. So perhaps they're just lying low. Some years they have been very obvious, other years more stealthy. A two minute, twenty-five second video titled: "The Secret Life of Black-crowned Night Herons in City Wetlands" is very interesting. Type in the title on a search engine.

Friday, June 26, 2026. Rain. Hoping to get photos taken Tuesday 23, 2026, around 8:30 pm displayed here, today. Is it a Black-crowned Night Heron? Think so... but the photos were taken from quite some distance, near sunset, and with my old 8+ iPhone. Also, thought I heard one in middle of night two nights prior. The bird was not back the last two nights, one was a downpour and the river was pretty noisy the next. Our city's festival is going on so the area's livelier, plus noise travels on the river. They will still go out to eat after dark, but perhaps the noise was too much to pick at molting feathers on a tree, with a pal below.

One article stated these birds with their red nocturnal eyes most often leave their hiding spot one at a time well after dark to avoid competition with bigger birds. Living just a few feet away from their Summer home, once it heats up, I most often knew they're still here by their squawkings upon returning. Good, I think. Home safe & sound. Zzz.

The Rocks

First Sighting for 2026, May 26, 2026 at 8:27 PM. Perspective: the Black-crowned Night Heron is perched on a branch in a tree over-hanging the river, about 20 feet behind Wood Duck house.

Q: Is this the second Black-crowned Night Heron of 2026? Photos taken Tuesday, June 23, 2026, around 8:30 pm using iPhoto 8+.

When Junk Trees are Someone's Home

A Narrative (& Parable below)

The leaves on the junk trees along one side of our property are slowly opening. They're about the last to open, perhaps because the leaves are big, Polo green, thick, shiny, good cover. If this year is as previous years, at least 25 since moving here and 37 years for husband, late one night the black-crowned night herons will fly back to their Summer home.

How will we know they're back? First indication will be when we hear their particular harsh heron squawk. The verified proof will happen when we're sitting down by the river and catch them flying out of the trees, not in a big noisy group, but more stealthily. Usually it won't happen as dusk begins, but as dusk ends and darkness begins. The tell-tale signs of what creatures we've seen hanging around the river will determine if we hang around and watch them fly out at night.

Some nights a black-crowned night heron or two will leave their junk tree haven and fly to the river side of the slowly disintegrating old Horse Chestnut tree whose branches hang over the dock that runs along the shoreline. If sitting there, we'll hear a rustle in the leaves above, but don't look up! Soon it takes off and flies north.

This old tree is also of less than ideal beauty, but we treasure it just as much as the others. They are an integral part of our history here. What makes them so important? Besides the fact we find their unusually contorted shapes symbols of their determination to survive? The wildlife.

No smaller, younger tree can support the life and activity that a mature tree endures. Often such trees are hardy natives. Maybe that's why they're able to survive to the "ugly" stage of life. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.

So if these black-crowned night herons are as locally endangered as you'll read in the articles listed below, why didn't we call up an organization and tell them about our seasonal feathered neighbors?

It was a protective measure. Previously I told someone about another big river bird that came by regularly because he enjoyed my whistling while I worked. When that person got angry, the friendly old bird's favorite visiting and fishing tree was cut down.

We didn't want to risk the Black-crowned Night Herons losing their homes too. The old bird losing a good feeding perch was one thing. He probably had many. But Black-crowned Night Herons don't live as long as he did. So for them to have been living for generations in the same old junk trees for so long just seemed important. Although major branches were cut off on one side, we've kept the old trees intact as best we could. Despite the trees crippling frames, the birds kept returning. We hope they do again this year.

Secondly, I once saw a photo of a captured bird being tagged, then read about how they put tracking devices on them. Seems we humans now walk around with tracking devices on us- called cell phones. People have acclimated to it, but wish it hadn't become necessary for one's safety these days. As long as the birds want to live in our yard they can remain here unfettered for as long as the trees remain standing or they find a better place to live.

Try to remember, His eyes are on the sparrow, the Black-crowned night heron, old junk trees, and especially you and me. God bless.

"Tracking the Endangered Black-crowned Night-heron." https://outdoor.wildlifeillinois.org/articles/tracking-the-endangered-black-crowned-night-heron

"BCNH Project Investing in Conservation, THE CHICAGO BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON STORY" illinoisaudubon.org/bcnh-project/

"Welcome back, Black-crowned Night Herons! Lincoln Park Zoo", May 9, 2025

https://www.lpzoo.org>welcome-back-black-crowned-night-herons

For Background: A Sampling of On-Line Articles

Black-Crowned Night Herons

A Parable

Have you ever felt like a useless junk tree? Or that there's nothing good that could come out of you? Here's a true life story about some old junk trees that in fact weren't junk at all. Instead they were very important trees to special birds living along our river.

Always remember~ God doesn't make junk. In fact He made you in His image. Just like the trees in the story, He has a special purpose for you. In the same way the birds found a safe home, God has a safe home for you. What's your way home? Just follow the Rocks.

Click:

August 2025, photos of Black-crowned Night Herons. Juveniles? Adults? These 2 really liked hanging out with the Egrets last Summer in the more marshy southwest corner of the lot. But if anyone came near, they skedaddled. The "marsh" as we call it is the area between the Wood Duck house platform and the area where the tree over-hangs river. It's a beaver-chewed maple tree which has had chicken wire added and it's canopy is between both lot-lines. The photo was taken August 14th.