Little Blue Heron

Little Blue:
The other day I took a drive not expecting to see much along Dune Rd. as things are still a bit slow as far as migration is concerned.  I was hoping to improve my Snowy Egret photos, which I was successful in, but the big surprise was finding my first Little Blue Heron which is a species typically found in the south (think Florida) but that has expanded its range over the last decade or so to begin breeding in New York and southern New England.  Little Blue Herons are about the same size as a Snowy Egret, and the juveniles are all white and easily confused with Snowy Egrets.  This bird was patient, and thanks to Mike Lotito for letting me use his beanbag as I shot from the ground to get the low angle:

After catching a good number of small killie fish, this heron found a big prize:

It wisely took the big prize to land in case it dropped it while trying to get it down:

Here's the heron stretching out a bit:

And a successful strike:

At one point a Snowy Egret came by in an effort to harass the Little Blue into giving up some food but to no avail:

Look big, bold, beautiful and (a little) intimidating in its full breeding plumage:

and a trip to Jamaica Bay National Wildlife Refuge this weekend yielded this: