Great Egret

The phone rang at 6 am, duly bringing us notice that perhaps 8 Great Egret were spotted in a tree on the far side of Mill Pond. Rolling out of bed, we quickly dressed and with tripod and camera drove the half mile to set up the tripod in the dim light. Using the camera's timer, we managed to get three shots, two of which were simply unusable, and then this poor one, which nonetheless permitted a positive identification of this shy American or Common Egret, which is found across the US in its wet breeding and hunting areas.
Before we could take another photo, they flew up the pond in two groups, which spurred us to hop back into the car and drive upstream in hopes of spotting them at breakfast. However, we did not see them, and suppose that they headed to the Housatonic and its many ponds and oxbows, where we have seen one or two at a time hunting among the weeds. Thanks, John and Elsie.