Juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron

Just the other day, I was bemoaning the fact that I hadn't seen a black-crowned night heron all year. But yesterday, just as I was sitting down for lunch, we got a call from Denise who said there was an unusual bird at the bridge on Wickapecko. From her description, it sounded as though this could be it. Here's a shot of the bridge with the bird on the grill.



I approached the bird cautiously and took this shot as soon as I could, just in case it was about to fly off.



But it seemed entirely unmoved by my approach.



Indeed, it started to put on a show, scratching itself:



Preening under its wing:



Then it settled down again, so I took this chance to get the scene-setting shot of the bridge.



Although it didn't give me a look at its neck fully extended, this shot gives a pretty good idea of how long it is:



Finally, it turned around and looked under the bridge.



I think it had by now gotten fed up with the clicking of my camera's shutter. It readied itself:



And then jumped under the bridge out of my sight.