Subject: [Tweeters] Montlake Cattle Egret Wed. am
Date: Nov 17 09:56:27 2004
From: Kathy Andrich - chukarbird at yahoo.com



Hi Tweeters,

I found the Montlake Cattle Egret this morning but not
where I expected it. It was amongst the gull flock
that hangs out at the ball fields at the corner of
Montlake Blvd and Mary Gates Way. This was around
7:15am.

I really enjoyed the time I spent watching the egret.
It is an adept and excellent forager. I spent about
10-15 minutes watching it and it caught and ate least
half a dozen worms among other items. It made the
gulls look dull and lethargic with it's higher
activity level. Also the size comparison between the
egret and gulls was almost amusing. The egret isn't
very big at all. I checked the big Sibley's before
work and the Cattle Egret is 20" tall and about 20oz.
A big gull I picked at random from Sibs is the Thayers
Gull and it is 22-23" tall and 2.2 pounds! This would
be a fun photo op for the photographers out there if
the egret sticks around and likes hanging with the
gulls in the am. The last thing that struck me about
the egret was it's beard. Made it kind of cute (I
know, cute isn't a field mark...)

What a fine way to start the day. It was clear and
gorgeous in the south end this morning, looking over
the valley the Cascade mountains and Mount Rainier
were beautifully silhouetted. The rain and wind
really cleared the air nicely.

Kathy
Roosting in S King County






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