Litchfield Egret...11/27, looks like a Great.

[Christine Sheridan]

Thanks to a call from Joan McKibben, I got over early for a look at the white heron/egret haunting the Chase Brook Pond in Litchfield.

When I arrived the bird had retreated into the cattails at the top of the pond.  My impression was that the bird was somewhat larger than a Snowy, and smaller and "stouter" looking than a Great Egret.  (But I am mindful of how often I've mis-judged the size of a bird when there is nothing to compare it to.)

  I could not see the legs.  The bill looked thick and dagger-like.  I thought it could very well be a Little Blue immature..  The bird quickly retreated into denser brush, then moved out of sight.

I had been able to shoot off a few frames, for several more or less fuzzy shots  of the birds. 

On the computer, the head and especially bill looked like that of a Great Heron. In the photos taken by the homeowner (on a cell phone) the legs looked drab, and the bill grayish. 

But it looks like a Great Egret, late. scrunched up, wary,  and out of place...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/42971731@N03/22728636703/in/datetaken/

Chris