When you head out to the water on a birding trip in the southern United States there is a good chance that you will see herons and egrets. We have quite a variety of them and sometimes telling one from another can be confusing. When I was out in Cedar Key over the weekend, we were fortunate enough to come across a very pretty little blue heron (Egretta caerulea) on one of the fishing docks. As their names imply, the little blue is much smaller than the great blue heron and it’s almost totally blue. The little blue heron is also known for its green legs and its two toned bill, which sets it apart from the reddish egret. This bird was a prime example of its species, and was also a pretty co-operative subject, so I was able to get a number of images of it in several positions as it moved around on the dock. It kept an eye on our group, but was not alarmed by us, which allowed us to have an interesting and fun experience with this bird.