My first thought was:
American Bittern, because you can find
Botoris lentigenosis around Ontario marshes/swamps. But the colour of the bill is not right (its black, it should be yellow), there is a hint of a crest in one of the pictures (not the ones shown here), the markings above the shoulder aren't right, and you very seldom find a bittern perched in a tree.
Now I am more inclined to think its an immature (less than a summer old) night heron of some sort, most likely a
Black-crowned Night-Heron. The "immature" part of the ID would explain the relatively dull coloring, and the fact that I was able to get as close as I did to get these shots.
(Note: the pictures look somewhat more impressive if you open them in Paint. You can see a fair bit of detail at that point).
And here's my attempt at an "artsy fartsy" shot of the scenery around Walden Pond, where the above pictures were also taken.
Okay, so maybe "artsy-fartsy" isn't my thing.
Just a Great Blue. Impressive beast, but not rare. They are very shy, and it is unusual that it would let me get this close. Might be the weekend heat made it dozy. Meanwhile, I've figured out a few basic tricks in Paint. Here's a couple of nicer shots of that immature Night Heron that I took a couple of days ago.
Now that's a nice looking beasty.
