Tricolored herons are a lot like calico cats, only in blue, and feathers. The adults have a little white flag of feathers behind their head. They wade the shallow wetlands plucking fish from the water and dragonflies from the plants to eat.

Their beak is black on the tip, and the top half changes to a brilliant blue during mating season.

Their eggs are also blue:

Every so often a mother tricolored heron will stand up and you can get a peek at her eggs.

Finally, one day there was a puffball big enough to get a half decent photo of. Now I've got a better lens and I hope to catch these herons at it again!

While the birds are still young, or juveniles, the non-white feathers on their head and neck are a rusty brown color.

It's fun to watch the babies frolic in the air after they learn to fly. This page has some of my earlier photos of tricolored herons playing in the air.