I agree. Certainly looks like a heron. We have the "green heron" here locally, and it looks pretty much identical save for coloration.
He'll likely not find much fodder in that wading pool...
If you photographed it in California, it is most likely a juvenile Black-Crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax).
In the eastern US there is also a Yellow-Crowned Night Heron (Nyctanassa violacea) that looks very similar as a juvenile (smaller light speckles on the back).
As Brian mentioned, it's color pattern will look different as an adult.
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