It could be they were staging for an autumn migration, but whatever the reason, upwards of three dozen great egrets had gathered in one area of the Tonawanda Wildlife Management Area last Friday.
The egrets took a liking to this narrow strip of water, all but hidden by a large expanse of cattails. At a distance, the egrets are barely discernable, appearing as tiny white dots on the water in the middle of the photo.
Evidently the location teemed with one or both of the egret's favorite food sources - small fish and frogs.
Judging from the movement of the large wading birds...
it would seem there was an ample supply of food in all directions.
Not far away, east of Route 77, dabbling ducks were having a feast of their own in Mohawk Pool on the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge. Mallards, pintails, green- and blue-winged teal, and widgeon were on hand for an aquatic feed.
The food supply must have been both tasty and plentiful because the ducks seemed more intent on eating than breathing - no matter where you looked, the ducks' heads were submerged..........that little fella on the right was one of the few exceptions (maybe he was full).
It was a good morning, the next to last day of summer and capped off with this egret on the fly.
Is there a way to get Jim's
Is there a way to get Jim's blog as an RSS feed??
Fantastic as always. Thanks
Fantastic as always. Thanks Jim!
As always, a great post, Jim.
As always, a great post, Jim.
Jim, The egrets have been
Jim,
The egrets have been there all summer, we see upwards of 20 at a time, beautiful! Lots of herons too!
Great pictures and narratives
Great pictures and narratives as always Jim. Check your email.
Jason & Doug, thank you both!
Jason & Doug, thank you both!
Anne, I had seen the egrets
Anne, I had seen the egrets only sporadically over the summer, and usually in small numbers on Upper Stafford Marsh on the Oak Orchard WMA. This past Monday morning I was walking the berms on Oak Orchard south of the S turns when I stopped to check out a massive stick nest high up in a dead tree. If I hadn't stopped to look at the nest I would have missed the Great Egrets passing overhead. Other than heading in the same direction, there was no sync in their flight - it was probably a minute or more before the entire group passed by. They were flying northwest, probably back to the area where you have been seeing them.
Thanks Ange.... soon you will
Thanks Ange.... soon you will be Colorado bound......See you when you get back!
I believe if you click on the
I believe if you click on the tag on this post for "outdoors" you can get an RSS feed of that tag. It should auto-generate if you feed the URL into your RSS reader.