Great Egret

Hi NJB, the flying, darker bird looks to be a Little Blue Heron. Albatross rarely, if ever, come to land. And if one did come to land, going all the way to south Houston would be really far inland for it. And Albatross are really big birds. If you look at your dark flying bird, you will notice a lighter bill with a darker tip. Look at some pictures of a Little Blue Heron and see if you agree with that ID. Thanks!

NJB, Nice spotting. While I think you have a great egret here, the dark bird, which I think is your albatross is another heron, probably a reddish egret. Take a look at the bottom of this page (there is both a light and dark version of this bird) and see what you think: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Reddish_Egret/id. I was down in your area (I live in Minnesota) on a birding trip a couple of months ago and really enjoyed myself. Lots of birds!