Diario de writingwyo, 30 jul. 22

The eyes I guess you could say were prominent. They were yellow, so they stood out 

Definitely a sandpiper. We think a pectoral sandpiper.  

I looked up pectoral sandpiper, but I think this guy was bigger than those. He was about duck size, I'd say. Black beak, yellow eyes, huge claw toes. There were a few hanging out by the pond. The beak looked shorter than a lot of the sandpiper images I found, but there's a definite sandpiper vibe going on. I'll do a little more research here. Thanks! 

Are you near the coast? 

my initial guess was also sandpiper... 

Fritzy -- no, not near the coast. I live in SE Wyoming  

Highly unusual 🤔 

No idea but what a wonderful morning!:) 

My thought exactly, PinayRN. I've emailed the photos to a friend of mine who used to live here who's really good at bird identification. I'll see what she says. NAVYWIFESKI, it was indeed a glorious morning! 😃 We have a really impressive Botanic Gardens for a city our size, and I'm fortunate we live near it 

Yes! Fortunate indeed!:) 

Could it be a corn crake? 

I don't think so,, Anne. Wikipedia isn't showing corn crakes in the U.S., although maybe we have a species here? Regardless, the photo didn't look right. There were 4 or 5 of these hanging out by the pond. 

Yes, it was a long shot! I wasn't sure where you are. 🤔 😃 

Hey, I'll take long shots at this point! I am so bad at bird identification! 

Folks, I think we have a winner: American bittern! At least, I'm pretty sure of it. All the sandpipers have black eyes, and he had yellow ones. I have a friend checking with his father, so hopefully I'll get confirmation from someone who knows more about birds than I do 🙃 

No wonder I couldn't find it in my Birds of California Field Guide. It isn't listed in there. But it is in my Western Birds book. It looks just like the picture in the book. The book has it standing in water and says it is goose sized and a reclusive inhabitant of marshes. I hate when I see birds and can't figure out what they are. 

It also looks alot like a Greater Roadrunner that is in my California book. But the book says it has an extremely long tail. Can't tell from your picture if your bird has a long tail. You are lucky to get such a good picture. My birds don't stay long enough for a picture 

It wasn't quite goose-sized, more like duck-sized, so I'm wondering if it's a young one and if there's a family of them up there. The description said they were solitary, but I thought I spotted 4 or 5 of them together right by the pond. There's a little marshy area 

Looked up an image of the night heron -- not it. I also got confirmation from a friend whose dad confirmed it was most likely an American bittern, and he's a bird guy. I don't know how common they are. I'm just pretty sure I've never seen one before. Thanks, all! 😃