Our trip through Ding today only yielded a couple of photos, a Little Blue Heron and a Yellow-Crowned Night Heron.
Our stop at the Bailey Tract was more successful. We were treated to seeing one of the growing Black-Necked Stilt chicks up close and personal.
When you have really long legs that bend backwards so that you can scratch your chin!
We watched the little guy walk around, getting bites to eat, then he took some time to preen his feathers. His eyes were looking a bit sleepy below.
And sure enough, he tucked his beak under his wing and snoozed. I focused on the reflection because it was so clear and smooth.
And another treat . . . we saw a Little Blue Heron that has almost finished turning from the white phase to blue. I love getting to see this beautiful process. From the distance, I first thought it was a Great Blue Heron because it seemed to be too big for a Little Blue.
The Tri-Colored Heron below was running around like a Reddish Egret chasing food.
We saw another pretty Little Blue Heron on our way back to the car.
This last pic is one of my favorites from today. As we got back to the boardwalk that crosses to the parking lot, the light hit the boards just right so that we could see our damp, sandy footprints from earlier and the footprints of either raccoons or river otters. I think these are probably raccoon footprints. But, if anyone knows for sure, please feel free to leave a note in the comments!