Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)
Cathy picked up a book at a used book store with trails in the DC area. Some of them would be a long trip for a single day, but some were within 20 or 30 minutes from here. We drove to Germantown today and walked on the Diabase Trail. As I was getting my camera and long lens put together, Cathy walked across the bridge where Schaeffer Road crosses Little Seneca Creek. She was startled by this black-crowned night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax), just beside the bridge. This is a juvenile, lacking the distinctive black and white coloration of the adults. We also saw an eastern wowhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus) and I got a few photos of that. We turned around sooner than we might, as a rain storm was heading our way. We got back to the car before the rain started, thankfully.