Great Blue Heron

We had a really neat experience today on a little outing. I needed to go to the store and since it was such a beautiful day and no other plans so we went to the park first. This particular park has a decent size creek nearby that we always like to explore. Today, as the kids were tossing rocks, "fishing" with their sticks and just plain enjoying themselves this HUGE bird flew toward us from upstream and landed right across from us on the opposite bank. It was so BIG and beautiful and graceful and didn't seem very worried about us just across the creek. He high-stepped along the grassy bank as we watched quietly. After about 5 minutes he walked a bit closer to the water and I was hoping he'd jump in or catch himself a fish or something exciting. Then here came his friend from the opposite end of the creek and they both flew off together back upstream. At the time I didn't know what type of bird it was. I really didn't realize Herons lived in TX, we've lived here 4 years now and been to that park about 100 times and never seen one. I used to see them in roadside ditches in Alabama all the time. I had to look it up in my Guide to North American Birds when we got home; they actually have a very wide range across the majority of the U.S. I didn't have my camera so I had to use a stock photo here, Cali also drew a picture for me when we got home.