Wow, what a sight that must have been! Sometimes I imagine having water and wading birds in the yard. I've been watching them at the park (2 nests, one with 2 babies so far).

This bird seems to be making a terrific comeback. I've seen them in the little stream in our local park in suburban NJ. And in Maine, where we used to be thrilled to see one during our vacation, we now see them routinely. Watched one for a considerable time right in the middle of Boothbay harbor this year. I'm happy to be bored by this wonderful bird.

It's not uncommon for my sister to have them in one of their two ponds on their property in the Bastrop, TX area

We have a tiny pond in our back yard, and one day my DD started screaming "THERE'S A PELICAN IN THE YARD!" Well, the pelican turned out to be an Egret-we were just tickled. There is no creek, river, etc. nearby. I do believe he snacked on my Goldfish, but that was his perogative.
Lynn

Nonews, I have one too. He fishes about once a week in our koi pond, but the koi are still there, so he's eating frogs or goldfish or going away hungry. Bizarre to see such an enormous creature ten feet from the backdoor. Drives the dogs crazy.

I was gonna say if theres a pond look out hell clean your koi, goldfish out quick.Your fish must be able to hide good.

These birds are pretty common where I live and I'm always facinated by them. Some people that have ponds with fish in their yards don't like them much. They can eat pretty large expensive fish very quickly.

Great Blue Herons make me think what it must have been like to have a pteradactyl fly overhead during prehistoric times. It is always a thrill to see them. Here, they fly from the nearby lake to the many reservoir ponds in our area, and are commonly seen early morning & at dusk. I recently had the extra treat of seeing 2 males solving a disagreement by having a flying, swooping chase thru the neighborhood. Incidently, the sound made by a Great Blue Heron resembles a "bark" more so than a "honk"