Gbh ?

[SmartWombat]

Most pictures of GBH I've seen show black feather tufts where this one has the brown patches on the wing shoulders.

[Canon_Bob]

Yup - GBH - Breeding plumage.

[SmartWombat]

Thanks, Bob.
I was assuming most of the changes form the ID photos or drawings were due to going into our out of winter/breeding plumage. Or maybe juveniles in some species.

[SARtech]

YUP. If you look back at my GBH post, you can see the brown (and black)
Great Blue Herons

Kristine

[SmartWombat]

Checking back through my 1023 images that afternoon, I got a shot of a different bird, same beach, with the black plumage.

[SARtech]

I believe their colors shift/change depending on how old they are.