[Maine-birds] Re: Odd(well at least to me) Heron/Egret at Pelreco

Could it be the Tricolored x Snowy hybrid that has been known to hang out in the marsh? 

On Sunday, July 31, 2016 at 12:23:59 AM UTC-4, Rob O'Connell wrote:

After kayaking all day through Scarborough Marsh, we swung by the Pelreco building this evening and there was not much going on. There were a couple of Snowy Egrets and a Great Egret. The Little Blue Heron was out there as well but then we noticed another Heron/Egret type bird. We studied it for about a half hour but it seemed to share attributes of different birds but not one I could easily say was definitively it. Home we went to research it. Here are some of the pictures. 

In Flight

Side by side with SNEG

Standing

My first thought was a Little Blue in transition from white to blue, or possibly(but unlikely) a Tri-Colored, but every time I found a feature that seemed to fit something, another feature seemed to throw that candidate out the window. 

I have entered it into eBird tentatively as a Little Blue/Snowy Egret Hybrid but would certainly love to be corrected. In looking at hybrids online there were several that seemed similar. 

Here are the details. We watched from 6:15PM to 6:45PM this evening. It started out being towards the back of the closer pools on the left. When feeding it was very active. Running at times to chase its prey. Sometimes it was just standing. Part of the time we could only see its head but it did give good views with scope/bins and decent photo opportunities for most of the time despite the distance. 

Interactions with other birds. It was alone at first, before being approached by a Snowy Egret. There was a bit of posturing between the two before the Snowy Egret decided to take off. A short time later this bird flew out to a more distant pool and was on the opposite side from the Little Blue which took off moments later, too soon for me to get a comparative look unfortunately. . About 4-5 minutes after this, the Great Egret flew out and landed right beside this bird and these two seemed not to have any issues being in close proximity. 

Appearance: The most obvious feature was the mottled purplish-grey and white covering its body. The darker color covered the majority of the neck with a bit of a white stripe down the front. It was also present more heavily on the marginal coverts. Other than that it was sort of mixed in around the bird.The white was on the primaries/secondaries and belly, but stood out on the crown, where it had "lacy plumes" that were shorter than a Snowy Egret, and around the eyes most of all. The eyes/lores were similar to the Snowy Egret, very yellow (not yellow green). The bill was very dark more like a Snowy Egret but was shaped more like a Little Blue Heron's. The chin feathers did not come out as far on the bill as the Snowy or Great Egrets. The legs on this bird were dark but not as dark as a Snowy or as light as a Little Blue. The feet appeared yellow in flight giving it a bit of the Snowy Egret feel, but as noted in the standing shot, it was they were dark on top but yellow on the bottom of the feet. Also the legs were not identical as one had more yellow/green towards the top. 

Please help me before the madness sets in!

Cheers and thanks, 

Rob O'Connell

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