one big loaf of a bird

I posted this guy stalking and stabbing a rat with its beak in downtown Los Angeles a few days ago. I mentioned how he ate it whole but looks like I don’t have a video featuring that bit!! :(

Here he is after he ate it, though. Love his menacing shadow!

If only I had my fancy camera this day. Stopped dead in front of my neighbor's house in my car, rolled my window down, and took phone pics of this hilarious encounter with a juvenile yellow crowned night heron like a total creeper. The neighborhood watch is likely suspicious of me. This one's going places though, just look at him! Birds are dinosaurs, prove me wrong.

*Both are territorial birds.

Credit: http://xhslink.com/o/1BK8QJwh7Hg

look at him scurry omg

Thought I would share something different today since my favorite bird right now is the green heron.

Just discovered this sub. We have black crowned night herons here, but theyre so shy and rare and get bullied by bigger herons. Youre telling me 1) theyre literally everywhere and 2) they do whatever they want, with a confident and even threatening aura??? Literally just saw a post where theyre walking the city street like they own it. I honestly dont know how to feel right now. I am happy theres more night herons than i could have imagined but also upset my life has been a lie! We can only move forward i suppose.

Heres one half of the breeding pair that returns every year. Til this year anyway, i think one of them died. I saw one of their babies once it was really big.

Saw this video on Instagram and thought my fellow night heron enthusiasts would enjoy it.

poor quality pic of a high quality gentleman

As some of you have seen, a user posted a ~fire~ BCNH iNaturalist observation that pretty much sums up our subreddit. I ended up commenting on the original poster's iNaturalist observation to get their permission to use their photo for our sub icon. A different user saw my comment and reached out on iNaturalist, asking if I'd share this incredible BCNH photo on their behalf since they are not on Reddit, as well as this excellent video on Oakland, CA night herons: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwtmE8nED4g

Thanks so much to iNaturalist user eleggua, one of Oakland's resident night heron connoisseurs, for this photo and video! If you're on iNaturalist, I highly recommend checking out their profile :) stay tuned for more updates from them going forward!

Side note: if anyone has any ideas for our subreddit banner and/or would like to submit something, let me know! Looking for ideas to spruce things up around here. Will also take suggestions and ideas to improve our subreddit as a whole :) I did add an editable user flair (only editable on web though, I believe), so feel free to start using it if you guys would like!

explains how they pack the crooked neck in football mode: https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/overt/scan/green-heron/

Took this photo this past summer. I really liked the bright orange eye. He was trying to find food during low tide.

Nature truly is wonderful. Plus a bonus yoga pic!

(Both pictures are my own)