At dusk tonight, a pair of birds flew up out of Boyd's Cove on the South
River...too big for Green Heron which takes the same flight path
occasionally.  They perched in the Gum trees along the drive, I
scrambled for binocs...couldn't see any colors due to low light but
clearly saw a light colored stripe extending from malar area down the
length of neck.  Then they flew letting out one short harsh squork,
sqounk or squomething like that...seemed much higher pitched than the
typical Great Blue Heron flight call.

Am. Bitterns or one of the Night Heron spp?  I'm familiar w/all 3 and am
comfortable w/daylight ID only.  My impression is Am. Bittern due to
relatively tapered head and bill but have never seen them in a tree.

Any thoughts/suggestions?

Brian Cassell
Annapolis, MD