Adult Black-crowned Night Herons are quite distinctive with their black back, white underparts and light gray wings:
At close range, the bright red eyes are striking features:
This morning, at Col. Sam Smith Park, I came across this bird:
No black back, or gray wings. The broad, blurry steaks of colour and some large white spots identify this as a juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron.
Last summer, a Yellow-crowned Night Heron spent many weeks here:
Other birds:
NATURE POETRY
It is a sultry day; the sun has drunk
The dew that lay upon the morning grass;
There is no rustling in the lofty elm
That canopies my dwelling, and its shade
Scarce cools me. – William Cullen Bryant (1794–1878)
Miles Hearn