White morph Reddish Egrets are found the length of the Texas coast but are
most common (about 1:1 with dark morph) on South Padre Island. The mainland
shore of the Laguna Madre is more heavily weighted towerd dark morph birds
than is the island shore. It is an interesting question why there appears
to be a partial habitat segregation by the two morphs. I have never
actually counted the numbers of white vs. dark morphs and this is just my
impression. Mike Farmer, former Nation Audubon Society coastal biologist
gathered a lot of data back in the late 80s/early 90s on Reddish Egrets on
the lower Texas coast including documenting massive feeding concentrations
of 700 - 800 birds in late summer, especially in the shallow lagoons of the
Boca Chica area, where industrialization (an LNG plant and a ridiculous
"space port") threaten to destroy the fragile ecosystem.
John C. Arvin
Research Associate
Gulf Coast Bird Observatory
103 West Hwy 332
Lake Jackson, TX 77566
jarvin@xxxxxxxx
www.gcbo.org
Austin, Texas
----------------------------------------
From: "Jennifer Miller" <foundnatureblog@xxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, May 11, 2015 11:17 AM
To: "passerinaciris12@xxxxxxxxx" <passerinaciris12@xxxxxxxxx>
Cc: "pete.romfh@xxxxxxxxxxx" <pete.romfh@xxxxxxxxxxx>,
"texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [texbirds] Re: Reddish Egret in White Morph
I repeatedly saw a white morph Reddish Egret at the South Padre Island
Convention Center about a week ago (there may even be two. One was smaller
than the other but exhibiting the same foraging behavior) and also saw one
at Rollover Pass on Bolivar Peninsula the week before.
Jennifer Miller
Lubbock, TX
{o,o}
/)_)
" "
Email -
Foundnatureblog@xxxxxxxxx
Blog - http://foundnature.weebly.com/index.html
On May 11, 2015, at 10:16 AM, Clayton Leopold<passerinaciris12@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
wrote:
Just to add to that, there has been a White Morph Reddish Egret in the
drainage ditches behind Moody Gardens. In fact he is here today.
On Sun, May 10, 2015 at 11:29 PM, Pete Romfh <pete.romfh@xxxxxxxxxxx>
permission
While birding at Brazoria NWR today we spotted a White Morph Reddish
Egret. It was feeding in the shallow waters of Roscoe Terrace on the
southeast portion of the auto loop. Another Reddish Egret, in more
traditional plumage, was "dancing" nearby.
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