Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Birds




As I was saying yesterday, I was leaving Bethel Beach last week when I happened to notice something that looked like white trash bags caught in the branches of a small, dead tree.







But then I realized that the chances of two trash bags being caught in the same tree were not very likely, so I slowed down to take a closer look.







I'm very glad I did.







I don't recall seeing these types of birds before, but then again I can't remember what I did yesterday.







For all I know I've done several blog posts on these birds and called them by their incorrect proper name.





Isn't it amazing how much the legs look like the tree branches?






Isn't Mother Nature amazing?








Dear Deltaville Jamie,

Since I didn't have time last night to Google or Wikipedia these things, could you please identify them and tell us what you know?  You call yourself a bird nerd, but I call you someone with a mind like a steel trap as opposed to me someone with a memory as sharp as Jello.

Thank you so much.

Love,
CBW

p.s. If anyone else knows please feel free to chime in.


10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I will await Deltaville Jamie's identification, but my amateur guess is Snowy Egret ? We have some around S.F. Bay--but never have I seen them in trees.Your photos are great--they look like Bird Clouds hovering in that bluest of skies !
LLC

Anonymous said...

I'm going with snowy egret too. Whatever it is, we saw several when we were kayaking around Warehouse Point.

I feel so dissolved today I aspire to having jello mind. But first I need a cup of coffee because right now there's no way I can pretend to be as sharp as jello.

--Betsy

deborah said...

I think Snowy Egret too...but I can't remember my own name let alone a bird's name:/
I didn't know they sat in trees, beautiful photos!

Ann Marie said...

Snow Egret :)

growing wild on waverly lane said...

Your son, age 2 or 3, was lecturing people in a Northern VA park about the ID of this bird. You should ask him sometime.

Windsmurf said...

I just looked on Google and it is an egret, probably a Snowy Egret, though there are several sub-species of white egrets.

As always, beautiful photos, glad you got your camera back in working order.

Daryl said...

egrets ..

Jamie said...

Definitely a Snowy Egret- you can tell by the dark legs and yellow feet. VA is a migration and breeding area for them. Great Herons are the other white heron in the area but they are large- like a blue heron but white.

Maria_NJ said...

its a White Chesapeake Pudgy bird in a tree...

cute though, I never saw waterbirds in a tree...

Dghawk said...

I thought they were Snowy Egrets, also. They are the only white bird I know of besides Snow Geese, and I knew that wasn't right.

Absolutely beautiful pictures!