The Great White Egret (one of the Old World taxa of Great Egret) that has
been at False Cape State Park since at least 4 August, found by John Gallegos
and
David Hughes, was still present this morning at about 10:15-10:45 in the
southwestern corner of the main freshwater impoundment in the northern part of
the
park (this is the only such impoundment in the park; it is on the boundary
with Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge; and it has an observation platform at
the northwestern corner). Also present here were a dozen Solitary Sandpipers
and a few Least Sandpipers, plus 8 White Ibis, and the usual summer birds of
the area. Sandbridge had its typical few Eurasian Collared-Doves and young
Lesser Black-backed Gulls. A nice sandwich shop called Zest has opened in
town.
I think Alaska has a few records (one specimen?) of one of the Old World
"Great White Egrets", but I don't know of any, offhand, from the East or the
Caribbean. In all likelihood, such a bird would be overlooked, as the darkish
bill gradually gets paler and yellower, looking more like our birds' as
breeding
plumage makes the transition to nonbreeding (photos of the Chincoteague bird
show a shift from virtually all black to having 2/3 of the mandible turn pale
yellowish). The False Cape State Park bird's bill is similar to the
Chincoteague bird's during the final week of its stay there, and I would expect
that this
is the same individual bird. It is anyone's guess how the taxa of this
group of birds might be treated by avian taxonomists in the future, but to
those
of us accustomed to our "usual" Great Egrets, this one seems arrestingly
different. The False Cape bird is quite confiding and allowed extensive
photographs this morning. If I am able to puzzle out any firm(er)
identification of
the bird, I will submit images and a short narrative to Virginia eBird.
Ned Brinkley
Cape Charles, VA
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