Great Blue Heron scanning the beach scrub for crabs. Gulf coast of Texas.
I love these animals so much. I get excited every time I see one (which isn't that unusual). Distinctive silhouette in flight and on the ground, beautiful plumage, they're fucking big.
One of my favorite childhood memories was kayaking down a quiet winding river with my dad and coming around the bed to a bit stand of dead trees covered in hundreds of busy, noisy GBHs. It was a huge roosting colony and it felt like we were surrounded by them.