Now that I know the Night-Herons are around I keep an eye out where I have seen them perch. They tend to tuck into the interior edges of the trees, where you can often see their outline but not get a good shot.

Occasionally they hop out on an exterior branch and that sometimes is a prelude to a flight. Below you can make out two Anhinga sharing the tree. The Anhinga have been quite aggressive chasing off the Great Blue Herons but so far I haven’t seen them gang up on the Night Herons.

These Night Herons are very pale on their chests and under their wings, which is not much contrast in front of all these shiny sticks.

Their red eyes do stand out, though.

This one surprised me when he landed near me and I got a nice look at his colors, including that fantastic eye!

Click on any photo for larger view.