121. Striated Heron (Butorides striata)

Striated Herons are small and long-billed herons, which generally do not occur in Europe - the nearest they are found is probably Egypt. However they are widespread throughout the world, occurring throughout much of South America, Africa, Australasia and the far east, with different races inhabiting different areas. Most populations are sedentary but the far eastern races migrate south after breeding. Their preferred habitat is forested water margins, around fresh or salt water, and they may also be found in a wide range of other habitats including salt and mudflats, swamps, marshy fields, reedbeds and tidal zones.

Striated Heron, ©jvverde, via Flickr Creative Commons.

Striated Heron painting.

Took a while over this, I'm not sure how long exactly, I just kept painting until dinner was ready. However as you can see I still didn't manage to finish, damn those fiddly striations! I won't be able to spend that long on my birds in the week, however as I'll be starting on the egrets tomorrow I'm hoping it won't be a problem....