Date: Sun, 11 Aug 2002 15:31:46 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Norm Saunders Subject: Mystery Heron/Egret MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit A query to all of you knowledgable folk out there: Are there any large, dark herons/egrets that utilize the same fishing strategy as the Reddish Egret? I am referring to the prancing with wings extended, head and neck down fairly close to the water. In any event, regardless of the answer, over the past week, Fran and I observed a bird exhibiting this behavior twice, feeding off of a sandbar along the backside of Assateague Island about a mile or so south of the northern tip of the island. We observed the bird dancing as noted above on both occasions, the first the morning of 4 August and the second the morning of 10 August. The bar was a good 3/4-mile away from our viewing position on the mainland shore on the bayside of Mystic Harbor. Even with a scope the view was less than great--lots of heat waves to contend with. We watched the bird for about five minutes the first morning, before it flew further south down Sinepuxent Bay. On the 10th, we saw the bird only for a short period, a few minutes or so, until it was frightened by a passing motorboat and flew over to the mainland side of the bay well south of our viewing position and out of sight. Once again, the bird was on the large side, with dark back and wings, and no noticeable color contrast on the breast as it flew off. If anyone else sees a similar bird in this locale, please post details here. A Reddish Egret would be a long-overdue addition to the Maryland State List. We'll likely be back in the area this coming weekend and will check the flats from Eagles Landing campsite but if anyone else is in the area this week, please try to look for this bird. Norm & Fran ============================ Norman C. Saunders Colesville, Montgomery County, MD marshhawk@att.net ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================