I was looking at the info at that site I listed about the Grey Heron and I see its not showing their range in the US. Thats odd since what I have been seeing at times along Deep Creek ( all the years I have been hiking there ) looks exactly like the photos you can google for Grey Herons. Maybe someone knows if there is another species that I'm seeing that looks just like them, or maybe too they are Grey Herons, a small population out of their normal range. They have enourmous feet and I see their tracks in the sand and mud at creeks edge many times :-)