Night Heron

We think this is a black crowned night heron, male breeding coloration. From afar, at first I thought it was a gull (although I should have thought why a gull would be in the middle of the brook). We were going down to the brook's edge to get flowers for our new butterflies when we realized we had a new bird to look at. We rushed to get our binoculars and spent 5 minutes watching him before he flew away.