ML63967461
Contributor
Date
Location
- Age and sex
- Juvenile, Unknown sex - X
Media notes
This juvenile Reddish Egret, which had been present since initially reported by Dan Cooper on 14 July 2017, was photographed here in flight by Curtis A. Marantz on 21 July 2017 at Malibu Lagoon State Beach, Malibu, Los Angeles County, California.
Observation details
I easily found the continuing egret foraging in the shallow waters within the tern enclosure along the western edge of the lagoon, where it remained for the entire time I was present. As is typical of this species, this bird foraged actively by dancing about, spreading its wings, and stabbing at prey in the shallow water. It also flew a couple of times, yet it never moved far. Despite this bird’s active behavior it never vocalized. This was a medium-sized heron that appeared to be slightly larger than nearby Snowy Egrets, yet its structure was similar. The dagger-like bill was about twice as long as the head was wide and it tapered from a base that was deeper than those of the Snowy Egrets to a pointed tip along a culmen that was only slightly decurved. The head was both relatively small and slim with little in the way of a forehead and a flattened appearance to the crown. The neck was slim throughout its length and it had the typical “S-curve” of a heron. The relatively plump body had a full-chested appearance and a posture when alert that was not quite diagonal. The short tail was apparently held downward in the plane of the body, but it was mostly obscured by the closed wings. The wings were short and rounded, with no apparent primary projection and wingtips that appeared to reach right about to the tip of the tail. When spread, the wings were relatively broad-based and they had rounded tips. I think the tail was parallel-sided and square-tipped, but I saw it only briefly when the bird spread its wings or was seen in flight. The legs were long and relatively slim, but given that the heron was foraging in the shallow water, I suspect I saw the feet only briefly during the bird’s brief flights. This was one of the most rufescent Reddish Egrets that I have seen, in that the head, neck, and underparts appeared to be a dull, brick-red throughout, and with no obvious contrast in the face or on the underparts. Even the thighs appeared similar in color to the belly. The back and most of scapulars were similarly colored, if not an even richer shade of rufous; however, the longer scapulars on the rear part of the back instead showed a conspicuous contrast between medium-gray centers and rufous fringes that extended along at least the outer edge and across the tip of each feather. The wing coverts likewise contrasted medium-gray centers with rufous edges and tips that combined to create a scaly pattern. The tertials were medium-gray centrally but again with broad, rufous fringes, and the remaining remiges were similarly colored, yet with the rufous fringes narrower and thus producing a striped pattern to the rear part of the wing. I saw the tail only briefly when the bird took flight, but my impression was that it was mostly gray. The spread wings likewise appeared to have gray remiges on which the narrow fringes of rufous were inconspicuous. The bill was an odd shade of bright, fleshy-pink, and even though the upper mandible was duskier distally, and especially along the culmen, the bill did not appear obviously bicolored. The eyes were cream-colored but the legs (and apparently also the feet) were a medium to dark gray in color. One thing that I cannot now recall is the color of the bare skin in the loral region.
Technical information
- Model
- Canon EOS 7D Mark II
- Lens
- EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM
- ISO
- 320
- Focal length
- 400 mm
- Flash
- Flash did not fire, auto
- f-stop
- f/8.0
- Shutter speed
- 1/1000 sec
- Dimensions
- 2032 pixels x 1372 pixels
- Original file size
- 1.3 MB