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Look at that neck...and that leg.....what a work of art!

More Information:

It is the largest North American heron, with a head-to-tail length of 91–140 cm (36–55 in), a wingspan of 167–201 cm (66–79 in), and a weight of 2–3.6 kg (4.4-8 lbs). Notable features include slaty flight feathers, red-brown thighs, and a paired red-brown and black stripe up the flanks; the neck is rusty-gray, with black and white streaking down the front; the head is paler, with a nearly white face, and a pair of black plumes running from just above the eye to the back of the head. The feathers on the lower neck are long and plume-like; it also has plumes on the lower back at the start of the breeding season. The bill is dull yellowish, becoming orange briefly at the start of the breeding season, and the lower legs gray, also becoming orangey at the start of the breeding season. Immature birds are duller in color, with a dull blackish-gray crown, and the flank pattern only weakly defined; they have no plumes, and the bill is dull gray-yellow.[3][4][5]
The heron stride is around 22 cm (9 in), almost in a straight line. Two of the three front toes are generally closer together. In a track the front toes as well as the back often show the small talons.[6]
The subspecies differ only slightly in size and plumage tone, with the exception of subspecies occidentalis, which as well as normal colored birds, also has a distinct white morph, known as the Great White Heron (not to be confused with the Great Egret, for which "Great White Heron" was once a common name). It is found only in south Florida and some parts of the Caribbean. The Great White Heron differs from other Great Blues in bill morphology, head plume length, and in having a total lack of pigment in its plumage. This is mainly found near salt water, and was long thought to be a separate species. Birds intermediate between the normal morph and the white morph are known as Wurdemann's Heron; these birds resemble a "normal" Great Blue with a white head.

SW Florida was mired in heavy fog this morning, but it began lifting about 9 AM so I headed out to Ding Darling NWR to capture some White Pelicans. The fog gave just the right amount of tonal separation between the gliding Pelican and the mangroves.

The bump on the bill is the beginning of breeding characteristics for this beautiful bird. They'll soon be heading north to mate, and we'll have to wait until early December before seeing them again.

Tech stuff: Canon 40D, 500mm f/4 lens + 1.4x teleconverter, 1/1600 @ f/5.6, ISO 400, exposed manually. I'm rarely shooting birds in flight hand-held anymore, and I wasn't here: the camera was mounted on a Gitzo tripod and Mongoose M3.5 head, enabling me to pan easily with the bird.