The bird is still present. Just north or the Marina. Directions are below. On Wed, Aug 22, 2018, 5:08 PM Jarmo Jalava via ONTBIRDS, < birdalert@ontbirds.ca> wrote:
> The bird was found by Kiah Jasper and Alfred Raab earlier this morning. > But they had another commitment and couldn't stick around. Kiah messaged > me that they had found a small heron at Oliphant (Little Blue, or possibly > Reddish Egret, or something else). > > I zipped down and found the bird at 8:22h feeding with a few Great Egrets > in a marshy inlet directly across the road from the Oliphant Fen boardwalk > (on Shoreline Road about 1.5 km north of the Oliphant Marina). I studied > the bird but was hampered somewhat by heavy rainshowers for the next 40-50 > minutes, taking photos when conditions permitted. > > The bird later flew around the point to the next marshy inlet, about 500m > to the south, just north of the Oliphant Marina (but out of view of the > marina). > > I had work commitments starting at 10 a.m. and ran out of time to post more > widely, but managed to get the photos and ebird checklists from both sites > online. Although I had my doubts, I leaned towards Little Blue Heron > because of the amount of white in the plumage that seemed (or was) apparent > in the field, but perhaps not quite so evident in the photos. > > Puzzling were overall size (seemed a bit large for LBHE), bill size shape > and colour, and feeding behaviour -- darty, quick -- more indicative of > Reddish Egret, but I leaned towards the more likely species. My eBird i.d. > was tentative (I added, "I think!" to the original description) -- > unfortunately there's no way to post uncertain i.d.'s on eBird in a way > that would flag them as potential rarities (except as "heron sp."). > > I last saw it at 10:15 (i.e. I was really late for my work commitments) at > the second location, and it was still there when I left. I wasn't able to > check on the situation again until later this aft when I saw that > consensus > from a number of excellent birders seems to be that this is Ontario's first > Reddish Egret. > > Hope the bird sticks around for others to see it! > > Jarmo > _______________________________________________ > ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) - the > provincial birding organization. > Send bird reports to birdalert@ontbirds.ca > For information about ONTBIRDS including how to unsubscribe visit > http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdssetup > Posting guidelines can be found at > http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdsguide > Visit the OFO Facebook page > https://www.facebook.com/OntarioFieldOrnithologists > > _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to birdalert@ontbirds.ca For information about ONTBIRDS including how to unsubscribe visit http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdssetup Posting guidelines can be found at http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdsguide Visit the OFO Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/OntarioFieldOrnithologists
