Wildlife from the Windows

Second day lately that I've seen one of these -- terns? (actually two were in the front yard a couple of days ago).

This is from the side window of my office. Jupiter (right) first spotted, alerted me to the presence.

Last week around the same time of day (mid-afternoon) I saw a dark black ferret loping by in the same side yard, somewhat closer to the window than this fine-feathered creature.

But, alas, by the time I got the camera, the ferret had disappeared.

One of the very few benefits to living in the sticks in the South.

Footnote: they're definitely not terns -- I did an image search and these look nothing like the terns in those images (and which it turns out, I've actually seen on West Coast beaches chasing the bounty left in the sands by ebbing tides.) Are these actually a kind of stork? Egret perhaps? Heron? Any fowl-feathered-friends and experts out there to enlighten us?