A flock of herons

Wednesday night, while I was taking out the recycling, I got stared down by no fewer than 7 Yellow-Crowned Night Herons. At least 3 of those were juveniles, one was still chicky, and 2 were clearly adults. They grow fast; it's been only a month since I found the barely-hatched (or hatched-on-impact) chick on my lawn. At least one of the juveniles can fly. I'm guessing they won't be around much longer; this is about the time last year when the initial pair of juveniles came and went.

Maybe next year will see a whole flock settling on my street. I don't know if that'll be a good thing; their poops are enormous. There's a gross white oval about 4 feet across on my front lawn directly underneath one of the nests.