The SCVAS field trip to Almaden Lake
today missed seeing the Little Blue Heron but did re-find the CATTLE
EGRET. It was hanging out on the island just a few feet off the ground,
at the level that the Green Herons normally hang out. It is a mostly
white bird with interesting bits of orange (e.g., bill, chest feathers, crown
feathers from a little above the top of the bill over the head and down the
back of the head). The white feathers at the base of the bill project
onto the bill far more than at the top, giving the bird the appearance of
having a distinct chin. There was nothing really close by for size
comparison. If you widened the scope view, you could just get in a
juvenile Black-Crowned Night-Heron, all scrunched up and also partially in the
greenery. The best you could say was that the two were in the same very
general size category. The legs were buried in greenery so I can’t
attest to their coloration. Maybe someone else in the group had a better
angle for that. Anyway, given all the orange, I would say it is an adult
in alternate plumage.
Best Regards,
Kirsten R. Holmquist
[[email protected]]