Is it a straited heron, a night heron, or something else? This bird was very stunning in certain kinds of light, while nondescript in others. And…he WOULDN’T STAND STILL.

MYSTERY SOLVED: A reader informs me- it’s a Green Heron, and I checked out google images, sure enough, there are more pictures of this bird there.

The Green Heron is one of the few tool-using birds. It commonly drops bait onto the surface of the water and grabs the small fish that are attracted. It uses a variety of baits and lures, including crusts of bread, insects, earthworms, twigs, or feathers.

He reminded me of a kingfisher, but…when I looked at pictures of kingfishers, the only thing that was similar was his spikey mohawk that he put up for me (above).

All five pictures are of the same bird. From the front, he’s spectacular, but from behind…he doesn’t look like much.

This was a striking bird with bright yellow legs and feet. I don’t know if I’d recognize his call if I heard it again, but he flew all over the place and was a little nervous about my presence.

I didn’t get the clearest of pictures, but we were out by about 9:00 this morning and the light was different than what I’m accustomed to dealing with…usually I’m out there taking photos at 4:00 in the afternoon, and the joint is jumpin’.

There were still a lot of cedar waxwings around, but they were mostly in the green trees rather than dive bombing the water to get bugs and then flying up into the dead trees where I would have a straight shot at them. I was having trouble locating them and even went on a wild goosechase trying to get a photo of them among the branches of a live tree.

Still, we managed to get some good pictures today, and I managed to catch a glimpse of a few new bird varieties, and Steve played around with his new Rebel.

Downy Woodpecker

Plover

Don’t know what this one is; could be a catbird.

Couldn’t place this one, either.

Great Blue Heron

Cedar Waxwing