Egrets

Winter Visitors Earl Plato

Have you taken the Saturday trolley ride to Point Abino lighthouse last year? Worth the trip. On a foggy Friday the 13th of June Elaine and I took our Timmy’s and bird glasses for our usual drive to Bertie Boat Club at Point Abino and back. They were still here. In fact three of them. We watched as two of them flew past us. The third allowed us to car watch. We focused in on the Great White Egret, “Casmerodius albus” is the scientific name - we get the label white from ‘albus.’
Great White Egrets is what I have called them for years. Ann McCleod from Crystal Beach called recently and said, “Earl. there’s a White Heron in Abino Bay.” Ann had looked up in her bird book and like me she saw that the White Heron is only located in the southern tip of Florida and southwards in the Caribbean.
Check out the Great White Egret in the Peterson guide. Yes, they come this far north. Wait. In my Audubon guide page 406 we read also “known as the Great White Heron. Confusing? Our three guests in Abino Bay are Great White Egrets with bright orange beaks. Take a ride and check it out. Drive carefully and pull over if you can.