I would want to see more photos, but they both look like Snowy Egrets to me.
Neither has the thinner slightly decurved bill of a Little Blue - IMO.
Neither looks short and thick necked like a Cattle to me either. I see a lot
of Cattle Egrets annually. I am trying to remember if I ever see them in the
open water flats like the Narrows.
How did they behave? Did they run around like a Snowy, or stand around like
Little Blues?
Caveat: Seeing the birds in life would make it easier, or seeing more photos,
particularly with other species in comparison would greatly help.
Jeff Gilligan
How did they behave? Were they active like a Snowy, or more sedate like a
Little Blue. Was any dark seen at the tips of the wing
On Sep 11, 2017, at 8:54 AM, Alan Contreras <acontrer56@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Photos of these two birds are going around. With luck they will soon be
posted to OBOL.
Some very good birders have come to opposite conclusions about what they are.
Alan Contreras
acontrer56@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:acontrer56@xxxxxxxxx>
Eugene, Oregon
www.alanlcontreras.com <http://www.alanlcontreras.com/>
On Sep 11, 2017, at 8:47 AM, Brodie Lewis <brodietlewis@xxxxxxxxx
<mailto:brodietlewis@xxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
Greetings obolers,
Stopped at the narrows yesterday, and at first found only GBHE, SNEG, and
GREG, but as I stated to head back to the car to leave, looked in the small
pond inside the horseshoe driving ring and noticed two small white egrets.
One (A) appeared slightly smaller than the other, had a bright orange bill
with what appeared to have the thin strip of feathering on the mandible that
is diagnostic of Cattle. I was suprised, however, to see grey mottling on
some of the primaries and secondaries, as this is a feature I'm not used to
on the many cattle egrets I've seen in India.
The second (b), which made a half hearted attempt to snap at A every once in
a while, had a paler pink bill, but still had bright yellow lores, and the
same matching grey mottling on some of the primaries and secondaries. Both
had dirty grey green legs with bits of yellow starting to show through on
the feet.
I'm assuming Little Blue and Cattle, but neither was as straight forward as
I was expecting. Will share photos tomorrow once I get back to a computer.
Glad they were in the closer pond so a lot of these smaller features were
visible!
Cheers
Brodie
Cheers
Brodie
On Sep 9, 2017 22:43, "Shawneen Finnegan" <shawneenfinnegan@xxxxxxxxx
<mailto:shawneenfinnegan@xxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
Casey Cunningham sent me photos of the Little Blue at the Narrows @ 12:30
today asking for ID assistance. I didn’t see the message till later as I was
working. I am assuming he saw it today but he didn’t actually say.
Shawneen Finnegan
Beaverton, OR
On Sep 8, 2017, at 10:12 PM, Russ Namitz <namitzr@xxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:namitzr@xxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
Henry Burton sent me photos of a CATTLE EGRET, immature LITTLE BLUE HERON
and SNOWY EGRET all feeding at the Narrows at Malheur NWR that he found on
Wednesday, 9/6. He looked but did not refind the birds the following day.
His eBird list does not include the Little Blue Heron yet.
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S39043791 ;
<http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S39043791>
Good birding,
Russ Namitz
