we live alongside a creek, and there are some swampy areas and a small man-made lake nearby. so at least once a year we see a heron stop by our yard, usually in late summer/early fall - maybe the easier nearby food sources are dwindling by then.
last summer, we heard the crows getting agitated, so of course we went to check if a hawk was interested in our backyard chickens again. not this time! instead we found this beautiful heron perched roughly 30 feet off the ground. i ran inside to get the camera.
the crows were not happy about this situation. they crowded around to make their opinion heard, but the heron didn't seem to mind. at one point there were 5 or 6 crows crowding around to chase the heron off, but it stayed for a good half hour. most of the crows gave up and flew off before the heron finally left.