Reddish Egret
A juvenile reddish egret has made another appearance this summer, after one that was seen last year. The birds are rare in this area with only four records (note by Dave Compton on Santa Barbara County Birding group) for the county. I have five photos from this afternoon to add to a couple from last year; plus video of the bird’s behavior. (A couple times when I saw the bird maintain the “umbrella” position for a few minutes, it seemed to be a shield against the low-angled sun.)
After an airy-ashy start to summer, followed by a settled-ash clean-up, it was good to get out and enjoy the summer for a few minutes at Goleta Slough outflow, a wonderfully birdy place.
(Reddish Egret - Goleta Slough outflow, July 18, 2008)
Slideshow - Clink on link below for slideshow of 8 photos.
Video - Click on the links below for video clips on Flickr.
Very nice, Lynn. What a nice “find” of a bird that does not visit very often. I really enjoyed your videos (as well as your slideshow). I sure hope most or all of the smoke has left your area. It had been smoky at various times around here, too. But with a breeze almost all the smoke has left our area.
July 20th, 2008 | #
Thanks, Mary.
Most of the smoke has let (the fire is 97% contained) but things are still a little ashy. A lot of cars are still covered with a thin layer of ash.
How close were you to a fire?
By the way, is Mon@rch away … he has not posted for a while.
July 20th, 2008 | #
What a great shot, especially that one. It looks as if it was just pre-flight.
July 20th, 2008 | #
Thanks, scienceguy. Not pre-flight actually - it is a hunting technique often called cloaking.
July 20th, 2008 | #