Great Egrets Return
Here we have one of the many returning Great Egrets seeking out our ponds, lakes and shores throughout the Northeast. This one, photographed last weekend, was in the middle of gulping down a snack. Our weather looks to be improving towards warmer and more typical conditions soon. Perhaps we can say goodbye to snow and freezing temperatures, making life for these birds – and their prey – that much easier. Egrets are a beautiful sight, and one of those species that even the non-birder recognizes and enjoys seeing back in our waters.
Read MoreJanuary Great Egret
This is your typical January Great Egret (Ardea alba) in New England…right…wait, what? As we plan and prepare for the fifth season of the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds, part of our year-round effort is NOT finding these long-legged waders during the avian wintering season in Connecticut. I photographed this bird yesterday, and today the temperature climbed to 60 with severe thunderstorms in the area. Thanks again, El Niño, and you as well, climate change. We will have a chilly week in the Northeast, and the Lake Erie snow machine will turn on dumping inches or maybe...
Read MoreDecember Great Egrets
Last night I inquired about seeing long-legged waders further north than usual, and here are some! I photographed these Great Egrets, part of a group of three to sometimes six individuals, this past weekend during some surveys in Connecticut. The Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds is a year-round effort, but usually we only expect to see a handful of species at this point of the bird wintering season such as the Dunlin, Sanderling, Black-bellied Plover and Great Blue Heron. There are still Snowy Egrets hanging out in the heat, too…strange sights for a season when there is usually...
Read MoreGreat Egret Flying
We will see you next year, Great Egret! The long-legged waders are on the way out, including the Great Blue Herons that may still be found in some places in our area come winter. More and more we do see Great Egrets and Snowy Egrets attempting to overwinter in warming regions, or at an artificially temperate location like a power plant or a water treatment facility. This cold snap definitely moved a lot of them out, though.
Read MoreGreat Egrets in Ashville
Although Great Egrets are not uncommon in some of the coastal sites we work in, they are pretty rare inland. The Jamestown area usually does not see many of these stately birds, but they show up occasionally suitable wetlands during migration. Yesterday afternoon I ran into former RTPI Facility Manager Miley Miller, who mentioned seeing a Great Egret foraging in a wetland in Ashville. Since that wetland was on my way home I decided to check it out and was happily surprised to see not one but four Great Egrets foraging there! Of course I was not prepared for this encountered and only managed...
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