August 30

 I got an early start this morning. I was out and in the park by 5:30 am. I was stuck with a bad case of jealousy. I missed the last Heron Count and so all I could do was ache to see that many birds from the Boardwalk. I expected that it might not happen and at first it was just robins and crickets. It was raining a bit and overcast. Gloom and disappointment. I could see some geese over at the Overlook, so I walked over and found this small flock with a few ducks and shorebirds. I was about to give up. The Egrets should have shown up by now.

I turned to scan a different part of the marsh and when I looked back, there were over twenty Snowy Egrets when there had been none a moment before. So I hung around some more.

They kept coming. More Snowy Egrets, some Great Egrets, two Cormorants and even more ducks. Wow!

It didn’t stop. More and more. Finally I counted fifty Snowy Egrets and twelve Great Egrets. I felt like I was at a private IMAX showing of Wildlife World.  I was grinning with sheer delight.

Then the King arrived. This Great Blue Heron landed in the middle of the crowd as if it were his royal court.

Before I left the Overlook, I saw two Ospreys on the platform and I assume that they were the juveniles because of all their aerial swoops and display.

The rain was just mildly annoying and as I left the Long Thicket, I found these richly colored leaves.

It was wet and the humidity annoying but I got over my jealousy. I got to see enough Egrets to hold me over for a long time. It won’t be much longer that they’ll be here. Soon only a few will be left behind and then all of them will be gone by October. So, if you wake up early before sunrise, do come and see them. It will make you grin and giddy.

Ciao!

-Jorge

This entry was posted on August 30, 2008 at 10:25 am and is filed under Daily - the next year. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.