The "Other Shoe" on the Egret at the Mystic Lakes

[phaw...@comcast.net]

A "final" correction on the egret/heron at the Mystic Lakes Dam, beginning Sunday.

     The bird was first seen as I was leaving Sunday morning. I had the bird in binos and on camera in excellent light. I recall seeing the bird sitting on the dock and I would swear it had a faint buffy/orangish hue on the crown and yellow on the beak, legs and feet, and immediately thought it was a Cattle Egret. (Likely a juvenile, which I cannot recall ever seeing, because of the two-toned bill. I've seen tons of Cattle Egrets in Texas and Central America but all seemed in breeding plumage.) As I was leaving the dam for breakfast on the table, I posted the bird right after breakfast, and did not look at my photos until that night.

     I got to thinking that day that the bird's location and behavior did not mesh well with Cattle Egret. I said if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it must be a duck, only I said an "immature Little Blue Heron," which has yellowish legs and feet, which often causes it to be confused with a juvenile Snowy (not Cattle) Egret. (I did not think about that then, as I was off to a Zoom meeting.) I rushed to get the "clarification" out there. However, if it walks like a Snowy Egret and talks like a Snowy Egret, the odds are that it is a Snowy Egret, especially as it has bright yellow at the gape and on the face above the bill. No plumage of Little Blue Heron has that. Major oversight on my part. My apologies.

     The bird is a juvenile Snowy Egret with a half-missing left inside toe on its left leg. Today I looked at it closely in poor and good light (though not using a scope.) In good light the yellow on the legs and feet blows out the darker shades. In poor light the legs looks much more greenish yellow as in the LB Heron. The birds shows no hints of buff/orange on the crown, that I clearly remember noting Sunday. I looked around the docks to see if there was anything lying there that could have reflected light giving me that impression. There was not today. Being a juvenile, maybe it's like my young granddaughters who have purple hair one day, pink another, and then natural blonde or brunette the next day. But no hint of buff/orange on the crown in photos or today.

      There is a difference in bill size and length (and color) between the Cattle and Snowy Egrets, but several guides did not do a great job of illustrating that. I found the Stokes Guide particularly clear and helpful.

     Again, my apologies for telling people that there was perhaps a life bird for them at the dam (neither of which I have ever seen there before), when it was actually what would be most expected and occasionally seen: a Snowy. And a learning experience for me.

      

Best,
Paul           

       

Paul M. Roberts
Medford, MA 
phaw...@comcast.net

[jthom...@gmail.com]

Hi Paul,

Based on your description, I think it likely that this is the same juvenile Snowy Egret that was first seen at Horn Pond on August 30 and has been seen frequently at Horn Pond and Winter Pond ever since.  

Jeff Thomas

Winchester