I have been seeing Great Egrets at Hughes Hollow (Mont Co) regularly 
since April 17 with a high count of 11 on April 27, but at times they are 
frustrating since they are there one day and absence the next and of course 
I didn't see them on the May Count.
     Yesterday (5-10) was typical.  When I took my site survey count early 
they weren't present, but when I returned about 4 hours later there were 2 
foraging near the main dike.  They would occasionally flap their wings 
forward to flush their prey.  When I looked at them one bird had a dark bill 
(not sure if it was black).  All the field guides I checked show a yellow 
bill.  However when I read the species account in Birds of N. America the 
first photo shows a bird with a dark bill, so the bird I saw was odd but not 
unique.

Paul Woodward
Fairfax City, VA