This is a terrible picture, I know, but it was as close as I could get to our latest visitor in the pasture.
Matt says it’s a trumpeter swan. I say it’s a heron. Swans look more goose-like. They don’t stand this upright. And this one has not been seen swimming in the creek yet. He asked the guys at work, and they say there’s no such thing as a white heron. But what do a bunch of linemen know about herons? There is, in fact, a white Great Blue Heron. But it lives in Florida.
So I’m thinking it’s a Great Egret. Can anyone help me out? (Karen??)
He flew off right after I snapped this picture, but this morning he was back and brought a friend with him. The Canada Geese are still here, too. I guess Sugar Creek is a romantic hot-spot for birds.
Are you sure it’s not just a plastic bag stuck in the grass..
When I saw the photo, I immediately said, “It’s an egret.” I’ve never seen a trumpeter swan, though.
Hey, I saw one of those this morning. It’s an egret. (Unless the bill is curved and the bird is smaller than I think it is — then it’s an ibis)
Dang it, H&B2! I had big plans for this to go down in history as The Great Egret Hoax of 2005. Now I must devise a new plan.
Sorry for dropping in late! :)It’s definitely not a swan. But it’s kind of hard to tell which heron/egret it is. Originally I thought “great egret”. But if it were a cattle egret or a great egret, I would have expected to be able to see the orangy-yellow bill, even at this distance.The other possibilities are little blue egret (juvenile is all white with dark bill), great blue heron (white phase), reddish egret (white phase) or snowy egret.From the way he’s standing and the apparent relative size (which can fool you though, especially in pictures), I’d say great egret, in which you just can’t see the orange bill.Oh wait, I just looked at the range maps, which seem to rule out everything I mentioned except for great egret.If you seem him again and he really does have a dark bill, let me know – because then he’d be something else.
Looks like an egret of some sort to me. Definitely not a swan though.