Juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron

 

 

 

 

Another great sighting this morning! We went out to try and take a quick walk between the rain showers, so we went without birding gear. When we got to the dam, first we saw the adult heron in the tree. As we were deciding whether or not to go back for the camera, something else flew in. Our first reaction was "that's a duck" due to the brown coloring, then we thought maybe a brown seagull. When we quickly realized it was a juvenile black-crowned night heron, it was decided the camera was a must. We didn't want to spook it, so Chris crept carefully past it, then ran to the house for the camera while Mike stayed and watched it to make sure it didn't fly away. It did stay and posed nicely for photos but is definately more shy than the adult (who we are hoping is its parent but we don't know how to verify that.)