By Sally Siko

Check out this gorgeous Tricolored Heron. I spotted him a couple days ago while birding in the Wilmington area at Ft.Fisher NC.

I’d just finished photographing a Coopers Hawk when I spied this guy hanging along the edge of a small pond (more like a big puddle) in the marsh.
For the most part the heron stayed still as a stone until it let out a big yawn, then started staring intently into the water below. After about a minute it shot its bill into the water striking at a fish. Unfortunately the heron came up empty yet remain undeterred in its focus to catch another meal.
What a beauty!

Though Tricolored Herons are a year round resident of North Carolina, they are technically a migratory species which tend to over winter here in lesser numbers than which are found during the summer.
They prefer to hunt and nest in salt and brackish water areas such as tidal marshes and mudflats found along our coastlines (the habitat here at Ft.Fisher is absolutely ideal) but Tricolored’s may also occasionally be spotted looking for a meal in freshwater environments (especially marshes & shallow ponds) in the inland areas of eastern part of the state.

Photos by Sally Siko of @bestlife_birding captured on my mighty mirrorless monster, the @canonusa #R5