"Yellow-crowned Night-Herons" was photographed in April 2019 in Savannah, Georgia.

Every year the Yellow-crowned Night-Herons return to our neighborhood in the spring. It started about 5-6 years ago with just one nest. One pair of nesting night-herons can lead to 3-4 chicks in one nest. So, every year the number of Night-Heron nests have increased. We now have a colony of 14-15 nests in our neighborhood. Some of the folks in our neighborhood like the Night-Heron nests and some do not like them. They do leave quite a mess under the nest as they chicks hatch and are fed by the adult night-herons in the nest until they grow and fledge. They nest about 30-40 feet up in pine trees where they are somewhat camouflaged.

For me, I like the Night-Herons. They are a welcome sign to me that wildlife is surviving and adapting to civilization and urban areas. Like much of wildlife, some people consider them a nuisance and a pest. However, at least in our neighborhood, people are learning to live with them. Like spring itself, they are a sign of new life. As they go about building their nests, they can be observed daily. Once they build a nest, they return to it year after year. In a month or two, their eggs will hatch and the little Night-Heron chicks can be observed until then grow larger and start to fledge out of the nest. In the fall they learn to fly to the nearest marsh and learn to hunt and eat for themselves. They only return to the nest a few more times in the fall as if to say goodbye for the winter. They soon migrate over the winter and fly as far south as the southern Florida, the gulf islands, Mexico, and even South America.

I think "Yellow-Crowned Night-Herons" will make a good fine art print for anyone who likes wildlife, especially wild birds.