Brazos Bend Bird

Here is a photo from a trip the Bay Area Photo Club took to Brazos Bend State Park in Needville, Texas yesterday. I have to admit I don't know what type of bird this is so if anyone can identify it for me I would appreciate it. Is is a heron?

Title: "Brazos Bend State Park Bird"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 100-400mm L zoom

1/125s f/9.0 at 400.0mm iso250

Post-processing: Photoshop CS3 > Curves Adjustment Layer to improve overall contrast > Hue / Saturation Adjustment Layer to increase saturation a little > Merge Visible to New Layer > Topaz Adjust plugin "Clarity" preset for sharpening > Merge Visible to New Layer > Nik Viveza plugin to increase brightness on the bird and decrease brightness of the background in order to help bring the bird forward from the background > Merge Visible to New Layer > Distort Lens Correction Vignette