I was probably about 20 feet from him when I took the pic. He often stands in the canal and doesn't seem to mind when people walk past on the path right next to it. But, if I go to his secret fishing spot on the river, he hears me coming half a mile away and flies away, making a horrid squawking noise. I don't know why the river location is such a sensitive subject. Maybe that is his mate and I am encroaching on her nesting grounds?