The American Bittern featured above is one of those special, elusive birds that we don’t see out in the open very often.   Several birders stood watching him for the longest time . . . waiting for him to just DO something!  Meantime, he was very accommodating to stand in this little clearing and be admired.

This Tri-colored Heron, posing in the late afternoon light, was one of the first that I photographed on my walk a couple of hours ago.  Such a beautiful night – a lovely breeze, perfect temperature, and lots of wonderful feathered friends out enjoying the hours before sunset.

Lots of wetland birds enjoy perching atop this very tall crag that juts out of the water.  But Great Blue Herons like this one aren’t often among them, so I thought I’d catch him in flight taking off from the branch any moment.  But this guy balanced up there for a very long time, and dusk was rolling in, so I finally gave up waiting and moved on.

This American Coot was almost hard to see against the water in the waning light.  But the late sun caught his face at just the right moment every once in awhile, and I was able to see his beautiful red eyes!

Close to the end of my walk this evening, I was treated to some amazing cloud formations, colored pink in the setting sun.

As it grew darker every moment, the entire sky turned purple and the clouds looked like a ruffled mountain range in the distance over the trees.  What a joy to live here!!