I took a drive out to eastern Suffolk County this afternoon, specifically in hope of seeing the above species. I spotted the CATTLE EGRET at the dairy farm on Mecox Road (intersection of Halsey Lane) before I'd even pulled over to the side of the road. It was ~50 ft. inside the fence and was preening. It then proceeded to begin foraging in the tall grass. I observed it for ~20 minutes, during which it caught and consumed a couple large earthworms. Three cows eventually meandered over into close proximity with the egret, providing a very species-appropriate tableaux for photos of the bird.
At the Water Authority grounds in Hampton Bays, I observed 3 near-fledging juvenile COMMON RAVENS at the nest on the east side of the water tower. They were all fully feathered (no down seen) and at least one was doing a lot of wing-flapping and hopping. Two visits were made to the nest by an adult during the half hour I was there. The first time a food item was carried in the adult's bill, the second time within an obviously bulging crop. Both visits were enthusiastically (and loudly) greeted by the "kids". -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
