Any birdwatchers here?

[bljones]

Can anyone identify this bird? I snapped a pic of it (him? her?) at the marina. No one is ever gonna confuse me with Audubon, but I know it's not a seagull... I think.

[flyingwelshman]

It looks like a black crowned night heron.
I remember seeing a lot of them nesting at Coot's Paradise (Burlington / Hamilton).

[CalebD]

Confirmed "Black-crowned Night-Heron" in the Sibley Guide to Birds.
Their normal range includes the Canadian Maritimes and southern Ontario. They don't go much further north then where you are.

[MarkofSeaLife]

Has that chook got a severe case of dandruff? Whats all the white crap floating in the photo?

[bljones]

Thanks caleb and welshman- a heron it is. I wouldn't have thought of a heron, because i thought herons always had long goofy necks- apparently this is not the case. I learned something today.

[erps]

We have a critter like that in our area called a Bittern. Ours make a real weird noise, like a small wave splashing inside a small cave (Glunk, Glunk) Do the Canadian Herons make a funny noise, maybe with an accent?

American Bittern, Sounds, All About Birds - Cornell Lab of Ornithology

[CalebD]

Chirp, tweet-sweet, eh?

BL,
Blue Heron's have a prodigiously long and ELEGANT neck. Not goofy, eh.

[CalebD]

Here is a picture of a Great Blue Heron we met at Love Key State Park in Florida.
He stands nearly 4' tall and was waiting for a fisherman to toss him some of
the live shrimp that was being used as bait.
Photo taken within 12' of this bird.

[tdw]

Originally Posted by MarkofSeaLife

Has that chook got a severe case of dandruff? Whats all the white crap floating in the photo?

unfair on the chook ... it's the photographer, Jones ?, who is spreading the flakey stuff.

[dnf777]

We have a rookery of blue herons along a stream here in Pa. They are absolutely beautiful to watch coming and going. Very graceful.

Thanks to the OP....great pic too. I bet a lot of us learned something today.