On one of the cloudier days out at North Topsail, before the rains came, I was walking out the walkway/deck towards the gazebo when I saw movement in the reeds nearby, and had the long lens in hand (with a camera attached, too!) so I could take advantage of it. Unlike the green herons in the area, this one was pretty blasé about my presence.
This is a willet (Tringa semipalmata,)