Green Heron (Butorides virescens)
We went to the C&O Canal today, walking upstream from Riley’s Lock and the Seneca Creek Aqueduct. Past the far end of the turning basin we saw a family of wood ducks (Aix sponsa) but none of the males were in their fancy, breeding plumage. They are still pretty ducks and since we usually only see mallards (Anas platyrhynchos), we enjoyed watching them paddle around in the duck weed. We also saw a great blue heron (Ardea herodias) and I got quite a few nice photos of that.
On the way back, I saw something that didn’t register immediately but I stopped and backed up to take a better look. It was this green heron (Butorides virescens) on its nest in a willow hanging out over the water of the turning basin. I was able to get a pretty good show, in spite of the branches of the tree.