Herons are sometimes colloquially known as “shitepokes” due to their habit of lightening their load when they are flushed into flight. You may wonder why. Well, I’ll just let this immature Tricolored Heron demonstrate.

You’ve probably observed birds lifting their tails, as this one did, when defecating. But while reviewing these photos, I noticed that the bird also spread its legs. That’s something I don’t think I’d ever notice in the field. I guess that’s another benefit of photographing birds.

Unfortunately, my trip to Peru has been postponed since there weren’t enough participants on that departure. Hopefully, I’ll get to go sometime next year.

I had set aside a large chunk of my vacation days for it, and since I can’t carry them over to next year, I had to find something else. So my wife and I are going island-hopping in the Caribbean. A few days in Puerto Rico, and then a cruise to the US Virgin Islands, Antigua, Dominica, and Grenada. I’ve got bird guides lined up in the latter two. Anyone have suggestions/tips for the others?