[mou] snowy egret at Bass Ponds, Bloomington

[linda whyte]

Our thanks to Bruce Baer, whom we met sometime before the noon hour: his
mention of the snowy egret strengthened my resolve to walk the whole trail
to the pond reconstruction beside the Cedar/77 bridge. I'd been wanting, yet
fearing, to see the changes made, and had managed to find reasons to evade
the walk. Mention of the snowy, however, was all that was needed, as this is
a bird I'd missed on several occasions.

We were fortunate indeed, because the snowy was very close to the near
shore, AND there was a Great Egret right at hand for the obvious size
comparison. We saw not only long plumes rustling in the breeze, but also its
feet, as it picked its way in shallower waters. Rob managed to get a photo
of the two birds together, as well.

East of there, there were some Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs on the near
mudflats, right by the outlet of the main pond. The outlet itself was
swarming with swallows, mostly Tree, but some Rough-winged and Barn among
them. Someone pointed out a chimney swift too, giving us a chance to observe
how its flight pattern differed from the swallows'.

Everywhere, there were yellow-rumped warblers feeding vigorously. Among
them, in the marsh east of the stream that exits the ravine, there was a
lone orange-crowned warbler, quite outstanding in plumage in the sunlight.
It was very busy working the cattails for food. While we were circling this
marsh and watching for the orange-crowned, we were treated to flyovers by
both a Cooper's hawk and a n. harrier. The weekend certainly ended better
than it started.

Linda Whyte
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