The Grey Heron, a Eurasian wader, is a mega rare bird for Nova Scotia. This one from Miner's Marsh is Nova Scotia's first confirmed record. There was a report from 2001 but it was not confirmed. Moribund or dead birds have been found on ships heading west. As usual the caveat applies that reported birds are seldom the first to visit since many are unseen or are seen but not reported.

The Grey Heron flew up into a tree where I first saw it. It didn't leave the tree or do much of anything but preen. I tried photos from other angles but the backlight all but ruined the effort.

The name is misspelled in most North American literature thanks to the American Birding Association who think they have the right to stamp any name they like on a bird, even a European bird .  "Grey" is the European spelling which is most certainly the correct spelling since its their bird to name. The Canadian and British spelling for a shade of colour is also "grey", whereas in the United States the spelling is "gray".

Folk names such as Grey Heron or Gray Heron are neither right or wrong. Any local name is as good as any other. The only correct name is the scientific name.

Grey Heron