danielletran's Identifications

Light-gray stocky bird with a black back and black crown perched on the lower limb of a dead tree over the Guadalupe River.

These photos are not good quality because I don't have a telephoto lens. In the first photo, the bird is perched on the lower limb of a dead tree over the Guadalupe River (see the center of the photo). In the second picture, the heron is flying away.

Species of special concern (SSC) in California per California Natural Diversity Database program (CNDDB) in the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Conservation Status: vulnerable (VU, S3) in California, US (NatureServe)

Do you think the chick in the last photo is a Snowy as well, or a Great? It seemed smaller and different from a nearby Great Egret chick, but could just be younger I suppose. I wasn't sure about the leg coloring.

This section of Shorebird Way is closed to vehicle traffic during the nesting season to protect the chicks. Great & Snowy egrets nest in the sycamore trees in one section. More:
http://www.scvas.org/egrets.htmlhttp://www.mercurynews.com/peninsula/ci_27893463/mountain-view-egrets-return-googleplex