Monday update on the White Egret at Walden Ponds -
I went out this morning hoping to get another look at this bird, but it was conspicuously absent. In fact, there were only a few Snowy Egrets on Cottonwood Marsh, and all of them had black legs and yellow feet. I tried Bass Pond, Duck Pond and Ricky Weiser wetland, but there weren't any white egrets anywhere to be seen. I dragged my scope and tripod around for over an hour hoping to see the green-legged egret, but didn't find it anywhere. I guess that was my penance ...
Well, back to the egret saga ... Steven Mlodinow brought up the point that a juvenile Little Blue Heron should have black wingtips. While these can be somewhat difficult to see, with the abundance of pictures taken of this green-legged Egret, those markings should have been captured in at least one of those pictures. Unfortunately, nobody has reported seeing this critical ID marking on this bird, so I will have to conclude that this bird is a juvenile Snowy Egret with lighter legs and feet. The early clues led me to believe that it was a LBHE, ie leg/foot coloring and feeding behavior (standing quietly instead of running around), but I needed to follow up on all of the clues for a proper ID. Oh well, SOMEBODY needs to run around with their hair on fire from time to time, I suppose. I guess the positive aspect of this is that more people should now be aware of the differences between these two birds, and what things to look for to discern the differences between the two. We don't get to see Little Blue Herons around here very often, but if one shows up in the future, hopefully I will know it when I see it.
Good Birding -
Jeff Parks
-- I went out this morning hoping to get another look at this bird, but it was conspicuously absent. In fact, there were only a few Snowy Egrets on Cottonwood Marsh, and all of them had black legs and yellow feet. I tried Bass Pond, Duck Pond and Ricky Weiser wetland, but there weren't any white egrets anywhere to be seen. I dragged my scope and tripod around for over an hour hoping to see the green-legged egret, but didn't find it anywhere. I guess that was my penance ...
Well, back to the egret saga ... Steven Mlodinow brought up the point that a juvenile Little Blue Heron should have black wingtips. While these can be somewhat difficult to see, with the abundance of pictures taken of this green-legged Egret, those markings should have been captured in at least one of those pictures. Unfortunately, nobody has reported seeing this critical ID marking on this bird, so I will have to conclude that this bird is a juvenile Snowy Egret with lighter legs and feet. The early clues led me to believe that it was a LBHE, ie leg/foot coloring and feeding behavior (standing quietly instead of running around), but I needed to follow up on all of the clues for a proper ID. Oh well, SOMEBODY needs to run around with their hair on fire from time to time, I suppose. I guess the positive aspect of this is that more people should now be aware of the differences between these two birds, and what things to look for to discern the differences between the two. We don't get to see Little Blue Herons around here very often, but if one shows up in the future, hopefully I will know it when I see it.
Good Birding -
Jeff Parks
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