Hi all,
  This evening I saw an adult Yellow-crowned Night-heron (YCHN) in the little pond in the middle of Grosvenor Park (the high rise apartments by Grosvenor Metro). It flew in from the south and landed in a medium sized sycamore on the edge of the pond at about 6:30. When I left at 7:15 it was hunting on the edge of the pond under the sycamore.

   While trying to get a closer look at the YCNH I was startled by some flapping in a tree a few feet from my head (on the island). It turned out to be a black heron. It took off and flew a few rods south and landed just below the dam. From the bridge next to the dam I watched it from 15 ft away for 15 or 20 minutes. It looked to me exactly like a YCNH except that it was entirely black apart from a couple grayish spots on the upper back and on the crown . The lighting was pretty good for judging color. I imagine it was a YCNH that got into something and colored itself, but worth mentioning nonetheless.

Michael Ostrowski
N. Bethesda, MD