One more heron

Virgina Rail

We are pretty sure this is a Virgina Rail. We ran into him at the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary. At first we thought he might be a green heron, or maybe a least bittern, but unless someone can convince us otherwise, we are sticking with the Virginia Rail.

Black-necked Stilt

We visited the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary and got these photos of the black-necked stilt.

American Avocet

Photo of an Avocet, taken in California. Because he has long legs and a long bill, we were surprised to see him swim and eat like a duck, not a stilt.

Marbled Godwits

Photos of Marbled Godwits, a type of Sandpiper, taken in California

Ducks

We skimmed our bird books and can't really identify these.

Least Sandpiper

From Tom in Mount Taber, NJ: Downy Woodpecker & Female Cardinal

First, A downy woodpecker at my feeder today. I noticed that he would eat from the tray, and not perch on the openings.
Second, a female cardinal – she was accompanied by what I believe is a juvenile – much more red, but not fully, like a grown male.
Taken in Mount Tabor, NJ

Great Blue Heron Nests

It all started one day about ten years ago when we were living in Southern California. Chris was coming home from grocery shopping and while stopped at a red light, she saw a heron fly overhead and land in a eucalyptus tree. A few days later, Chris brought Mike back to the area and they saw several heron nests with babies in the trees. On a recent trip back to SoCal, we were pleased to see that herons are still nesting in these trees.

We saw one baby great blue heron in a nest with a protective mother in the top photo. We think the bottom photo shows two juveniles in another nest who are waiting for a parent to return.

Egret

Grebe