Suprise At The Baywood Pier

About 10:00 I started out on my birding walk; as I approached the Baywood Pier there was the usual flock of Western Gulls. A few ducks were feeding in the muck. I wondered if the Blue-winged Teal had arrived. I swung my binoculars into action; the ducks were Mallards. Thinking there might be a Glaucous Gull among the Westerns I check the gulls, and what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a little Cattle Egret, so dear. ( photo) I think it was an adult transitioning out of its breeding colors.

A note about Cattle Egrets. They are an Old World Species, coming to South America from Africa. They reached Calif. in the Mid 1950s. Cattle Egrets are not bay birds. They usually forage in small flocks in association with livestock. It goes without saying, this little Egret made my day.