An adult night heron in full breeding plumage showing off its pink legs which are yellow the rest of the year.

Taken late March, this bird is probably a year or two old and has the yellow legs you see on both juveniles and non breeding adults. They get their full adult plumage in the third year.

If you look at this shot and the thumbnail below it, you can see they are roughly the same size and shape. Nice of them to pose for their comparison shots.

At the sanctuary, there is a group of palm trees next to the large pond that provides prime nesting spots. It is fenced off to ensure the breeding birds are not disturbed.

In late March, this was one of many night herons nesting amongst the snowy and great egrets. Its usually yellow legs are pink because it's breeding season.

This bedraggled juvenile black-crowned night heron was perched on the dock near the boat we were going to use. I hoped it wasn't a harbinger of how our trip would turn out.