Green Heron (Juvenile)

Our third visit in as many days to San Joachin Wildlife Sanctuary south of Los Angeles. We had been told there was a Least Bittern in one of the pools, but that he was very difficult to see. Marylee went off to look, leaving me to shoot the more dependable black-necked stilts--in a while, she returned: "I've seen it!" So we both went back--nothing there. But in a bit, this bird flew across, and landed in plain sight. We managed to convince ourselves it was the bittern (which is a species of heron), and I even just posted it as such. But wondering about its age and plumage details, we realized in fact it's a young green heron. Here's an adult from this May.

A fascinating detail: he's standing cross legged, having moved just his left foot to turn to his right to reach this stance (that's clear from shots of his previous stance).

Other good sightings: a distant Virginia rail (literally nearly as special as a bittern would have been), and several sora (another type of rail, less rare).