Yellow-crowned night herons of the Jones Falls
Birdwatcher George Washington Williams has been photographing yellow-crowned night herons in Baltimore for six years.
- George Washington Williams watches yellow-crowned night herons along the Jones Falls Trail while a train passes along overhead. “I can’t believe that they would nest here with all this deafening noise,” he says. (Christina Tkacik/Baltimore Sun)
- A spontaneous community of bird watchers springs up along the falls after Autumn, left, dismounts her bike to join Williams, center, and Andrew Clemens, far right, while they monitor the yellow-crowned night herons that have nested in sycamore trees along the Jones Falls Trail. (Christina Tkacik/Baltimore Sun)
- It’s hard to see with an ordinary camera lens, but somewhere in the branches of this tree is a young yellow-crowned night heron. Born in Baltimore, the bird will soon head back south with his family. (Christina Tkacik/Baltimore Sun)
- George Washington Williams uses a strong telephoto lens to observe and document the lives of the yellow-crowned night heron. HE tracks their movements in a spreadsheet that he keeps in his pocket. (Christina Tkacik/Baltimore Sun)
- “Looks like a pair here!!!” Williams wrote in the caption for this shot of two yellow-crowned night herons taken April 4, 2017. Williams said the birds usually arrive in Baltimore around March 17. (Photo courtesy of George Washington Williams)
- “Trying to find a mate,” Williams noted on April 4, 2017. (Photo courtesy of George Washington Williams)
- “So time moves on, 1st egg in new nest and they are mating again,” Williams wrote on April 24, 2017. This is his sixth year watching the birds — he typically comes twice a day to photograph them. (Photo courtesy of George Washington Williams)
- Taken on April 18, 2017. (Photo courtesy of George Washington Williams)
- “Time marches on for these birds and a new season begins.” Taken April 11, 2017. (Photo courtesy of George Washington Williams)
- Photo of adult yellow-crowned night heron with three eggs taken April 14, 2017. (Photo courtesy of George Washington Williams)
- Photo of yellow-crowned night heron taken on April 17, 2017. Ornithologist George Washington Williams watches the birds every year as they settle in Baltimore for mating season; he says they arrive in the city around March 17, St. Patrick’s Day. (Photo courtesy of George Washington Williams)
- “These guys are working away,” Williams wrote on May 1, 2017. (Photo courtesy of George Washington Williams)
- Taken on April 30, 2017. (Photo courtesy of George Washington Williams)
- “I stopped by today and the female was setting which normally means an egg, ” Williams wrote on May 5, 2017. “I will check on them tomorrow.” (Photo courtesy of George Washington Williams)
- Photo of yellow-crowned night herons taken May 1, 2017. (Photo courtesy of George Washington Williams)
- “Mom’s making space,” Williams wrote on May 10, 2017. “There are two eggs remaining in the nest.” (Photo courtesy of George Washington Williams)
- “Amazing to see so many chicks hatch in one day,” Williams wrote May 12, 2017. “This is year 6 for me and I’ve never seen anything like this.” (Photo courtesy of George Washington Williams)
- “We’ve had a ton of rain the last couple of nights but all the nest look okay and everyone looks good,” Wilson wrote as a caption for this photo taken on June 22, 2017. (Photo courtesy of George Washington Wilson)
- “These guys are branching out,” Wilson wrote on June 8, 2017. “They should be flying very soon.” (Photo courtesy of George Washington Williams)
- Feeding time for the yellow-crowned night heron as the father drops food for the young. Photo taken on June 15, 2017. (Photo courtesy of George Washington Williams)
- Photo of yellow-crowned night heron young taken on June 19, 2017, when they were approximately three weeks old. (Photo courtesy of George Washington Williams)
- Photo from the “second nest” along the Jones Falls Trail, taken June 20, 2017. (Photo courtesy of George Washington Williams)
- “Bad hair shot.” Photo taken on June 15, 2017. (Photo courtesy of George Washington Williams)
- Photo of yellow-crowned night herons taken on June 14, 2017. (Photo courtesy of George Washington Williams)
- Photo of yellow-crowned night herons taken on June 16, 2017. (Photo courtesy of George Washington Williams)
- Photo of chicks in nest taken on June 18, 2017. (Photo courtesy of George Washington Williams)
- Photo taken on June 18, 2017. (Photo courtesy of George Washington Williams)
- The chicks, Williams observed on June 27, 2017, “are big enough to stand up for long periods and soon will be branching,” (Photo courtesy of George Washington Williams)
The Jones Falls Trail might not be the most scenic spot to have children. Trains chug by all day long, there’s trash pretty much everywhere. In the afternoon, the smell of raw sewage rises from the water. But none of this seems to matter to the Yellow-crowned night heron. The birds fly to Baltimore each spring – perhaps from as far as Central America – to raise their families.
“I can’t believe that they would nest here with all this deafening noise,” said birdwatcher George Washington Williams, as a train clanged overhead. “I couldn’t have my family here.”
And yet — here they are, high within the sycamore trees, in nests of twigs, laying turquoise blue eggs, hatching, stretching limbs, and learning to fly. “The hardest thing for these guys is landing,” Williams said. “I’ve seen them when they land sideways.”
A retired engineer, he comes every day, usually twice a day, from the time they arrive in mid March, until they return south. “I usually stay as long as it takes for these guys to leave,” he said. (He usually refers to the birds as ‘these guys.’) This is his sixth year coming.
In a spreadsheet, he tracks the birds as they nest, mate, lay eggs, hatch, and eventually start to fly. He also uploads his photos to Flickr, along with his notes. “Amazing to see so many chicks hatch in one day,” he wrote on May 12, 2017. “This is year 6 for me and I’ve never seen anything like this.”
As Williams, 67, is watching the birds, he said, the birds are watching him. He tells a story about a time he saw a hawk near one of the nests. Without even thinking, he yelled and clapped to scare it off. The parents knew then that they could trust him. They’d even leave the nest – with Williams standing there, telephoto lens in hand, a kind of de facto babysitter.
Denise Davis
Jul 05, 2017 @ 09:38:20
What an extraordinary article and photos. Thank you for a hopeful and inspiring article!
Lisa Simeone
Jul 03, 2017 @ 11:28:27
What beautiful photographs! Thank you for this spread. I’ve walked along the Jones Falls plenty of times but never knew about these birds before.