Little Egret?

[millicat]

Here is another with my p&s. A Little Egret? Need to clone out the blotches and hopefully can do that next week on mh computer, unless there is a tablet app that can do it. I have Snapseed and the preinstalled Photo Editor but cannot see that they have the cloning tool.


Little Egret? by ladymilli's stuff, on Flickr

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[loose cannon]

Looks like a Little Egret with breeding plumage to me.

It can be difficult to identify the great, intermediate and little egrets.

The great has a neck that is much longer than its body, the intermediate's neck is roughly equal to body length but unless the neck is extended it can be tricky to ID at times. Also with the great, the gape (yellow bit) extends back past the rear of the eye, with the intermediate it stops under the eye. Very difficult to spot unless you have a clear view as the difference is minor.

I'm not sure about this but I think the little is the only one of the three that has the fine filaments on the head in breeding plumage. The little always has a black beak and as you would expect is slightly smaller than the other two and most importantly has some bright yellow on the face. Easy to see from front on or a good side view.

I'm not very good at bird ID Anna, hopefully some one more knowledgeable will contribute.

[loose cannon]

Easy to tell the difference between these two if you get a good look.





Edit: Here's the little egret

As you can see totally different

[millicat]

Re: Little Egret?

Thnx Mick, very helpful. Mind you from the downloaded bird book, I have been educated a little about the distinctions aswell. Yes you can def see the differences . I think so far what I have seen are easily identifiable.

Here are the Great Egrets from sunrise this morning. However that Little Egret was in the same body of water but more at the start of my walk. I saw an even smaller Egret with a complete orange beak and some awesome shots but lost them when I reser my tablet...grr.


Great Egret by ladymilli's stuff, on Flickr


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[loose cannon]

Nice one Anna.

I struggle to get anywhere near egrets in my neck of the woods as they are very easily spooked.

[millicat]

Re: Little Egret?

These are about 10 metres from shore. All depends on how close the tide is. Basically where the birds are and far beyond is mud and you wouldn't venture in it even when the tide is way out. We have had a few king tides the past few days so the birds are closer to the footpath and better for photos.

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[avkomp]

micks pictures and explanations cover it well