The Cattle Egret. This was a first sighting for us and a very cool sighting as well. With their multi-colored beak, their fiery eyes, the long breeding plumage, and of course that quaff of hair-like feathers on their heads. All in all an amazing looking bird.
I have to say, I was rather confused about their name: Cattle Egret. Most birds are named for their color, size, or a particular body feature. The Great White Egret, Blue Heron, Pink Flamingo, Roseate Spoonbill, and so on. But Cattle Egret. It seemed kind of odd. Until we were leaving and in the grassy meadows we saw several of them out in the grass, grazing as it were. Now I’m assuming they were looking for bugs and other critters, but they did kind of look like cattle out there in the field, just lazily eating their way around the area.
Now I don’t know if that is the exact way that these birds acquired their name, but it sounds and seems reasonable to me. Either way, these birds reminded me of punk rockers or something with that quaff of hair they have on the tops of their head. But as I processed the photos I began to see the beautiful colors in their eyes, on their beak, and how majestic and stoic they look all at the same time.
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RM Goldsmith Photography 