Green Heron
Butorides virescens
The Green Heron is a year-round resident along the Californian coast, and the Mexican and southern U.S. coastal areas as well. It can be found in many other parts of the U.S. during the breeding season. The left photograph shows a Green Heron in its first summer, before the darker rufous neck and upper chest of the adult (right photograph) has developed. It was taken in Jewel Lake of Tilden Regional Park in Berkeley, CA on July 3, 2015. The right photograph was taken at Lake Anza, also in Tilden, on October 12, 2013. (Click on images to see enlarged versions.)