26/10/2024
People's favorite question to ask a birder is, "What's your favorite bird?" It's impossible to answer, except, I like the one that goes, "The bird I'm looking at right now." Well, ONE of my favorites is the Reddish egret. The first picture is the quintessential Reddish egret, the "dark morph." One of their endearing behaviors is their method of fishing. They spread their wings wide to make a shadow in shallow water. Small fish will move into that shadow. Then, the egret begins to stomp his feet and twirl in a circle, which scientists believe confuses the small fish, at which time the Reddish egret nabs his prey. The activity is a cross between dancing and going crazy. It's DEADLY effective. THEN, there's the "white morph" Reddish egret. MUCH less common, there has been one plying the waters around Jones Park this year. The last one I saw there was September, 2019. They are quite handsome.
