I replied privately last night to John Habig about the behavior of these two birds which was more like Cattle Egrets that forage in grass and pastures. I went past them 3 times in my car and they always returned to the grass, never once going toward the marsh. My experience with Little Blue's at Pinkney NWR in S Carolina was that the adults and immatures like to 'have their feet wet' while feeding at low tide on mudflats and sandy beaches. I never saw them grazing for critters in grass or pastures. 

Hope this advances the conversation.

And Yes, i do have some more pictures that I will post tonight.   

Matt Valencic


On Aug 27, 2013, at 9:51 AM, Bill Whan <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Sent this to Matt earlier; meant to send to the list as well...
> BW
> 
> 
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: Re: [Ohio-birds] Cattle Egrets at ONWR
> Date: Tue, 27 Aug 2013 09:32:38 -0400
> From: Bill Whan <[log in to unmask]>
> To: Matt Valencic <[log in to unmask]>
> 
> Matt and all--
>       On a quick look, I really doubt the second bird is a cattle egret at
> all. It looks lankier, taller, the head structure lacks the underslung
> portion below the lower mandible. The bill looks overall much longer
> than a cattle's, recalling a snowy or even a little egret.
> To me it suggests little egret, too, but I've seen only one of these
> that I looked at carefully, mainly because it was in Delaware. Too small
> for reddish.
>       The dark feet seem to rule out out snowy and little...maybe More
> photos, descriptions of behavior, might help. Did the second bird ever
> wade in the water, as a cattle egret is unlikely to do? See Sibley on
> other actions. What are the variations in leg/foot color in various ages
> of these white herons?  I think the second bird might need some extra
> info from Matt; I suspect he has more photos, and could describe behavior.
> Bill Whan
> Columbus
> 
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