Go on over to read great posts on our feathered friends.
We drove up to Gilmer and Pickins counties in north Georgia to look for dragonflies and wildflowers. We drove by a pond south of Ellijay that W had found when he surveyed the area for Mountain Chorus frogs (Pseudacris brachyphona). It was a open pond in the winter but now it was full of cattails. There were dragonflies but no way to get close.
We were about to drive on when we noticed this bird. It looked like it was sitting on the top of a cattail. It was actually sitting on a stronger branch. It was gazing down into the water below it. I only had a chance for one shot before it dropped down into the water. It looked like a heron.
A closer view of the bird. It looks like a young Green Heron (Butorides virescens). It was young enough that downy feathers were still visible around its head and its flight feathers have not fully developed. Click on an image to view a larger image
Identification resources: The Cornell Institute of Ornithology - All About Birds: Green Heron (Butorides virescens)
