Monday, September 20, 2010

Great Egret continuing at Collins Pond, Caribou


Great Egrets are a rarity in northern Maine. They appear occasionally in spring and fall, and being big and snowy white they certainly aren't hard to detect once they arrive. I know of at least 7 records involving 9 individuals in the county in the past ten years.

Most recently a Great Egret has been regularly seen wading and feeding in shallow wetland edge of Collins Pond in Caribou. I first found the big wader here on Sept 7 and the bird continues to be seen daily through today, the 20th.

Paul Cyr got these great shots of the egret last week on the 14th and I've been meaning to share them.

The Great Egret can be separated from other large white wading bird by the combination of its large size, yellow bill and black legs and feet. All these are seen well in this great shot of the flying bird!

Another Great Egret was reported in Fort Fairfield about the same time this one arrived early in September. No further reports have been received about this bird.

3 comments:

pschep said...

Been watching this great egret over the past few weeks. Great pictures!

grammie g said...

Hi Bill, How are things in the county??
Potato harvest must be in full swing!!
What a odd site for up there. I wonder whats up with that?
It seem to like hanging out with the geese!!
Good photos!!

pschep said...

No Egret today (9/26).