Bird Identification: CLOSED: what kind of heron, 0 by Elphaba

Elphaba wrote:
When I first spotted him in the water among the tree trunks, I thought he was a great blue. He flew up and couldn't figure out where to land, so he landed sideways on this tree trunk like a woodpecker or a warbler! That was when I saw the spotted back that confused me. He then flew up onto another branch and I'll share those pics too. There was a little blue nearby and a tricolored that were much smaller than this one.