veterans park lies along milwaukee’s lakefront and includes monuments to honor veterans, trails, shoreline, and a 14-acre lagoon. the lagoon is a favorite hangout for a number of water birds, and last year my wife and i discovered that green herons and black-crowned night herons find it attractive as a fishing hole.

this year there’s a siege of night herons hanging out, but who knows if they’ll linger over the summer (here’s hoping for our sake). i’ve visited them a couple times, and it’s mighty impressive just being in their vicinity as they roost and fly about. the lower water level lately has enabled me to walk out under their roosting trees over the water’s edge.

as i don’t have a “serious” camera, i’m not able to get really good shots of them, but i decided when i started doing this that i wasn’t going to let tech limitations prevent me from sharing and writing about things that i enjoy. so, not great photos, but i’m too excited about the night herons to care! 🙂 (tho’ p.s., i’m starting to look at serious cameras…)

a.

high above her siege

perched on a single short leg

the afternoon hers

b.

quiet over the floodplain,

the eye is red. plume

tittering in bough breeze