Green Herons often visit the area in the spring and early summer. And they are usually long gone by now. So you can imagine my pleasant surprise when I saw one in a tree overlooking one of the Delta Ponds. The light hit its back just right to bring out the green, which hasn't been that obvious to me before. But my 'Birds of Oregon' book says the Green Heron is "iridescent green on its back and wings." When I have photographed them previously, in sunlight at the ponds, I often wondered where they got their name. I guess I haven't really got a good view of the back before. In this shot one can't see the bird's red chest, the neck and front are a bit underexposed.

Interestingly, I wandered on down to another part of that pond and saw a couple who were looking for birds. I told them about the heron. They had never seen a Green Heron, so I took them back to where the bird was. It stayed still just long enough for them to see it, and then flew off. It had stayed still for me for a while, all the time I was getting pictures of it. I guess two more made a crowd. :)