Juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron on the CSU Stanislaus Campus

In yesterday's post, I mentioned how I had the privilege of seeing three species of water birds in close proximity on the campus where I teach Earth Science, CSU Stanislaus. They were a Black-crowned Night Heron, a Great Egret, and a Snowy Egret. Tonight's shot is that of the Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax). It was a juvenile, as shown by the white spotting on the wing coverts (the adults have solid blue).

The pond that these birds inhabit is ringed by concrete pathways, so the birds, though wild, are somewhat acclimated to the presence of humans. I didn't go off the path to get the pictures, and they never flew away as I walked up. The zoom lens on the camera helped too.